Penelope Moffet 

The Railway 

— After The Railway, by Edouard Manet (France) 1873

As if he were
just a ruffle,
the puppy is draped
over a woman’s arm.
He’s as pale
as the lace peeking out
from her dark velvet sleeves,
as the pages of the novel
open in her hands,
as the diaphanous dress
of the girl beside her
who’s turned away,
who will live 45 more years
seldom speaking to her mother,
then die of the Spanish flu.
Despite her mild gaze
the woman thinks of running
around the black fence behind her,
jumping on the tracks,
but something
in the tightness of her lips
says she will endure.
Nestled in her lap
the small dog
sleeps like a lamb,
sure of the kindness
of the auburn-haired human
whose buttons
bubble above him.

National Gallery of Art, U.S. 1 -2

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