Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum
Georgia O’Keeffe: Ram’s Head with Hollyhock, 1930
She strokes the brightness of light
—Her first memory, birthed amongst white pillows—
Sensually into hollyhock; a cloud of petals against plush, cumulus sky,
The stemless flower floats, protected by the curve of a weathered horn.
Empowered, the fleshless ram cuts canvas, looming
Above an untouched desert that she can feel in shapes and colors;
(And to paint, she must feel). ‘OK,’ she signs, perhaps smiles.
Copyright Xiomara A. Maldonado 2009
