While Posing. Poem by Terry Collett

Mr Clementon says to sit
and wait and pose and you

sit as told and watch as he
prepares the easel and sorts

his brushes and paints and
all the while he sings in a soft

humming undertone his focus
on his task and not at all on you

and you watch and see how slim
his fingers are and not at all like

most men’s fingers are and his
hands are white and his face now

turned to you is shaved clean and
unblemished like a baby’s skin

and you think how soft it must
be to be close to him and sense

his flesh on yours and try and keep
your head still Molly he says firmly

bringing you down to earth and
drawing you from your thoughts

I need you to sit still and not move
unless I say and he begins and his

eyes move from you to the canvas
and back to you again and outside

the window the beginning of rain.