you can find the painting this is based on here: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/masterscans/sargent-nonchaloir-repose-mid.jpg
On John Singer Sargent’s Nonchaloir (Repose)
Dissolving like spooned sugar
in the hot waves of her dress,
her lips droop towards a recompense
between rich mantle and curlicued desk.
Neck blacked with a kerchief,
locked fingers, pudge-rimmed jaw,
twin arms straitened
by a golden shawl:
Of her feet, under satin
light-brindled as a May sea, we say nothing.
And the eyes drip shadow, and the nose
breathes it. Nonchaloir
thin as the staff of a pennant,
sagged under a cambric boat,
even the shadowed couch
shows more of a glimmer.
Blue-pattern fruits sag down to her knees.
All that is heavy needs a bearer,
all is swollen, gloss.
Open out your pale fingers:
Evening is drumming its palms
against the portico,
fisting your scrolled skirts with its purple hands.
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