William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Pastoral Recreation, 1868, Private Collection, 163 cm X 114 cm
THE PASTORAL RECREATION
(after the painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau)
A pastoral scene on the lid of the box
a family gathered in breeze-licked light
a young girl leans back on an elbow
Piping a madrigal, her ivory and turquoise
skirt flows over her legs
a boy in a white toga dances
Legs flashing, leaping
his tambourine held high
the father, black curls under a straw hat,
Rests under the tree, a slight smile on his face
gazing at his smallest, a girl of one or two
holding her mother’s hands
The pieces don’t match the painting
the father touches the teen’s shoulder
eyes aimed at her breasts
The mother passed out near an empty jug
the child sobbing, the boy missing
a smashed tambourine
Was it a dream the painter dreamt
one cob-webbed summer night
filmy breezes floating through his window
A still life created by absence
sustained by longing
wept into being
________________
Claire Scott
Review by Jared Pearce
What I find fascinating here is the consideration of from where art comes: is it from memory, an accurate memory, a lived memory, or a dream, a fantasy, a wish for a reality? The consideration of those questions is quite interesting to me.