Devon Balwit 

Art Appreciation 

— Willem de Kooning Woman and Bicycle 1952-3

Woman and bicycle—no bicycle I can see—
just as there’s no end in sight

to this lockdown. I set my sights
on midsummer, then early fall, knowing

well more deaths will follow, knowing
it’s wrong to rush any relaxation

of vigilance. de Kooning’s subject is the product of relaxation,
smile doubled, breasts spreading in contrary directions.

Her purported bike looks unready to take direction—
the merest hint of frame and tires. How exuberantly

she stands amidst a chaos of surfaces exuberantly
spilling colors. Her Cheshire cat grin delights

in destruction. I grin too at threat, which delights
this fleshy virago, this woman with no bicycle I can see.

Whitney Museum

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