Laura McKee
HENRI MATISSE REMEMBERS THE SEA
it started
when he wanted to hide
a stain on his wall
he held up coloured paper
showed her where to cut
the shape of a memory
there were more
and he liked to move them around
the lives that swam there
THE RAPE OF PROSERPINA
his hands were made for this
to find the give
in ungiving flesh
she is cold veined marble
somehow made to fold
where his fingernails sink in
I feel her pain
under my own skin
heat and pressure
the way marble is formed
her tears are set in stone
she strikes out at his temple
his crown stays on
Copyright © Laura McKee 2017
Laura McKee's poems have appeared in journals including Prole, Butcher's Dog, The Rialto, Under The Radar, in the anthology Mildly Erotic Verse (Emma Press), and on a bus in Guernsey. You can contact her on Twitter: @Estlinin