15.
The first portrait I ever saw and loved
was The Birth of Venus by Botticelli.
When I picture it,
mostly I picture
her two wide-set eyes
falling through the water,
not quite green.
A friend of mine
wanted to know why
that pale and faded water
arrested me so profoundly
half the color it once was,
half a tender shade you imagine.
It reminded me of longing.
Sandro Botticelli (Italian, 1445–1510)
The Birth of Venus, c. 1485
Tempera on canvas
Collection of the Uffizi Gallery