Justin - Painting

About the Writing

This is about an actual event, though somewhat romanticized. There is, or was, a large portrait of a woman in a green velvet dress in the 19th century European art wing of the Detroit Institute of Arts. This is by far my favorite wing of the museum because this is where Monet and Degas and Van Gogh and all of those guys are, or at least some of their work. This painting is not by one of them. I actually don’t know the title or the artist, but I did spend entirely too long looking at it one afternoon, if one can actually spend too long examining a piece of art. It is hyper realistic and I found it captivating. It is not my favorite painting. It’s not even my favorite in that wing of that museum. But we shared a moment and that is what this is about.

A Woman in Green Velvet

I know I’m standing much too close to her
And staring at each detail of her dress
The velvet of it calls out to be touched
Temptation that I must fight to resist
And so I search in hopes to find a flaw
An unmasked brushstroke that might break the spell
Hard lines to show the velvet is not plush
A hint of something false within her eyes
To make it clear that she’s not looking too
I know she’s just a painting on the wall
Of oil on canvas is the velvet made
But still I cannot help but think that if
I did reach out the velvet I would feel
And if I touched her hand her gaze would shift
To see what impertinent one would dare
I carefully examine every inch
I wait for her to ask me not to stare
I wait for her to tire and sit down
I know she’s waiting ‘til my gaze has left
She will not yield as long as I still watch
I cannot leave until I know for sure
And so resigned I know that I must act
I have to break her spell that keeps me here
I check to see that we are here alone
And lift my hand to touch the dress’s hem
Extend one finger towards the velvet goal
And feel the roughness of stretched canvas there
Her spell is broken I can leave her now
But still she’ll haunt me with what might have been