L’Origine du monde (The Origin of the World) painted by French artist Gustave Courbet
MUSEUM POEM
I’m looking at a picture of a naked woman
from the Renaissance
I’m more into skinny women
but this one stirs a spark in me
she is like a flower
in spring bloom
the beauty of her curves
the dark forest between her legs
the firm breasts before giving birth
rainbow colors that spin inside
my head
I am drawn like a magnet
to the texture of her flesh
like a hummingbird extracting pollen
I linger in the garden of lust
cock erect as a high-rise
kissing the New York skyline
she shed of the camouflage
of clothes
breasts like cream
this woman I can never have
doomed to hang in a museum
the naked truth between my legs
turns flaccid
leaves me like a hungry beggar
forced to sing for his supper