Mill Girl
after Willi Ronis
In the quietness between
before and after, the girl
unspools her broken thread,
addressing the problem
of time she has lost.
Abstracted, briefly,
from her routine,
her posture is that
of a handmaid or lover
bestowing an intimate gift.
Yet kneeling there,
on her own, she is like
an ingénue, taking in
some visitant’s
otherworldly news.
Her arms stretched
before her, she seems
to play invisible strings,
a harp whose cadences fade
into the noise beyond her.
<Deleted User> (13762)
Wed 17th May 2017 20:54
this is very good David but forgive me if I wonder out loud whether the two middle verses are somewhat (un)intentionally erotic - her mind wandering as she kneels, 'a handmaid or lover bestowing an intimate gift'. And then again as an ingenue, an innocent young woman perhaps. Apologies if my interpretation is way off the mark.
The last verse is a lovely interpretation of the image and contrasts her abstracted and dreamy solitude to that of the noisy mill. I agree with Cynthia about the build up and thank you also for the photography reference which I will certainly check out. All the best, Colin