Blackbird Archive← v21n2, Fall 2022Poetry · Volume 21, Number 2
Art Institute
She gets paid to pose,
collarbone slightly
upturned,
rib cage high.
The navel eye
above the dark-lamb hair.
The real eye looks at him
from the side
without the purple birthmark.
An artist’s hardest task,
to get flesh color
just right.
He smudges onyx,
on top of amber.
Add a hint of red.
He talks to himself
about the limitations on his palette.
