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Portrait of Nymphs Bathing
After the painting A Mermaid by John William Waterhouse, 1900
I thought I might as well transform
into a great silver fish
as turn from girl to woman.
It was like this: everyone watches
you bloom open like a terrible rose
reeking of new beauty, thudding life.
One day you comb your hair,
still dripping from the shower, and you are not
simply combing your hair.
Always, your portrait is underway.
That first summer of our revelation,
my friend and I undress
in her cold bedroom and pull
one-piece swimsuits on over our shifting forms.
We turn our backs—
another new thing—create an interval of air
for each other, a brief privacy
we’ve only just discovered that we crave.
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Aza Pace’s poems appear in The Southern Review, Copper Nickel, Tupelo Quarterly, Crazyhorse (now swamp pink), New Ohio Review, The Adroit Journal, and elsewhere. She is the winner of two Academy of American Poets University Prizes and an Inprint Donald Barthelme Prize in Poetry. She holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of Houston and a PhD from the University of North Texas.
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John William Waterhouse, A Mermaid. Oil on canvas, 1900
"Always, your portrait is underway."
Only a true poet could know and say this about transformation.
Posted by: Grace Cavalieri | July 30, 2023 at 10:28 AM
Stunning! A terrific poem about how women's/girl's-becoming-women are constantly on display. Knockout ending! The craving for a moment of privacy, not being seen....
Posted by: Denise Duhamel | July 30, 2023 at 10:32 AM
For me, this poem beautifully captures the strange, embarrassing, and life changing turmoil associated with coming of age. Fantastic!
Posted by: Abbie Mulvihill | July 30, 2023 at 11:54 AM
brilliant poem and post
Posted by: lally | July 30, 2023 at 12:02 PM
It is sad this thudding life. So much easier to go incognito as a boy or silver reflective fish.
Posted by: Jody Payne | July 30, 2023 at 12:07 PM
"Always, your portrait is underway." Terrific, just as Grace says. And the painting is amazing. Also: "an interval of air" and "a brief privacy." Kudos all around.
Posted by: David Lehman | July 30, 2023 at 01:17 PM
Amazing poem and artwork. It brought up memories of early years. I loved it.
Posted by: Eileen | July 30, 2023 at 01:41 PM
How terrible to be a rose, how necessary. Great poem.
Posted by: Geoffrey Himes | July 30, 2023 at 01:54 PM
Oh wow! Just brilliant!
Posted by: Nathalie Andrews | July 30, 2023 at 02:24 PM
Poignantly beautiful.
Posted by: Phyllis Rosenzweig | July 30, 2023 at 09:37 PM
Lovely to pinpoint such a moment.
Posted by: Susan Campbell | July 31, 2023 at 05:14 PM
The line breaks are impressive, so fluid and beautiful.
Posted by: Emily Fragos | July 31, 2023 at 05:52 PM
I loved this.
Posted by: Phyllis Rosenzweig | August 01, 2023 at 08:05 PM
What a beautiful ekphrastic poem. The couplets really work well here.
Posted by: Cindy Hochman | August 12, 2023 at 08:41 AM