#877 - lifting the lid (ekphrastic)

 

30.v.22

877 

3.150

lifting the lid 

ekphrastic for R.D. McCormick’s 1895 ‘A Tasty Dish’ 

in the Hinton Collection at NERAM

supercilious 

who sees past the samovar?

faux ancestors, ancestresses

the mantlepiece figure very civil war 

everything here is civil 

leadlit armorial 

shows some blows brought us 

shone leather on the leopard skin 

over the china rug 

she does demeure – tea rise, pour 

is that tiara in her hair 

or some lost laurel?

a rosy light 

the world’s woes in print

are more than the man

like the map of empire’s burden

here casually cast

there is nothing on their plates 

you see the steam 

butler considers leftovers for later

now he is lifting the lid

this picture can be hung on their wall 

happily ever after