As for me, I am one of the two Tahitian Women -
Perhaps the one holding the platter of red blossoms
Gazing just to the left of the painter’s shoulder -
The one who looks as if she knows
She is no more than the platter of red blossoms -
No better, no worse.
Sunset light bleaches my cloth mauve
My companion’s turquoise.
We loved cloth.
Knew color.
Sh, daughter, and remember,
I am the one who won’t become
The platter of red blossoms
The one who gazes away
Just past the painter’s shoulder.
* Based on “Two Tahitian Women, 1848-1903″
by Paul Gauguin
About the AuthorLaima Donela (formerly Laima Sruoginis) graduated with a MFA from Columbia University's School of the Arts in 1994. Since then she received two Fulbright Lecturer's Grants in Creative Writing, has edited a 389 page anthology on contemporary Lithuanian literature ("Lithuania: In Her Own Words", Tyto Alba, 1997) and now teaches Creative Writing at the University of Southern Maine. Laima's poems and translations have appeared in several anthologies ("Child of Europe", Penguin, 1990, "Description of the Struggle", Picador 1992, "Two Worlds Walking", New Rivers Press, 1994), journals ("The Beloit Poetry Journal", "Artful Dodge", "Writ", "Modern Poetry in Translation", "Mr. Cogito" and others) as well as a national bus poster series ("Streetfare Journal" 1993). Presently Laima lives year round on Peaks Island, Maine with her husband and three children.
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