Paint Me Poem by Suzanne Hayasaki

Paint me in an atrium.
Make me feel like Eve
Under the first tree
In a world peopled by no one but you and me.

Paint me in an aviary
With peacocks and flamingos
Cover me with feathers
And then blow them all off in one puff.

Paint me in a museum.
Pose me between armless goddesses
And primitive imps playing pan pipes.
Make my body look smooth and cold,
My eyes distant and unfocused.

Paint me on a blanket in a shady grove
With a river flowing in the background
And picnic provisions scattered all around.
Make me feel naked in the company of strangers.

Paint me in shades of pink and blue.
Make my skin shimmer in the light and shade.
Make my cheeks rosy and my expression sweet.
Preserve me as a girl as ripe as grapes.

Then put yourself in my hands.
I will mold you into a thinker.
I will carve you into a martyr.
I will chisel you into a straining angel.
And then I will place you at the foot of my bed.

If you will guard me like a gargoyle,
If you will stand watch over me like a temple dog,
If you will bar entry to my enemies like a sphinx,
Then I will give myself to you like a bride.