Epigraph: I think it’s what you take out
of a picture that counts. There’s
a residue. An invisible shadow.
—Andrew Wyeth, 1917-2009

Andy’s Shadows

Christina’s World–
In the left corner
a woman in a faded pink dress
thin black belt
sitting twisted in the meadow
her back to us
black hair sliced through with gray
askew from the bun
face turned upward
arms like legs, hands like feet
heading in the direction
of the weathered farm house
on the hill in the upper right corner
set in a circle of mowed grass
no windows painted
onto the left side of the house
even though there are.

Shadows:
face of an elderly woman
her wheelchair
her legs polio-ravaged
her drag marks across
the floors of the farm house
the overwhelming stench
her lobster-red geraniums in a kitchen window
her tenacity
her world
her brother’s selflessness
his dory put to bed in the barn.

_________