Les Muses: Call Me To Come For You, I Will Poem by Dennis Ryan

Friday morning, March 29, 2024 at 8: 18 a.m.

—This poem is based on the French painting "Les Muses" (1893) by the French Nabi/Fauve painter Maurice Denis (1870-1943) , who depicted his wife Marthe twice in the painting as a Greek muse, the inspiration for the arts and sciences. I wrote the poem this morning with an artist friend of mine in mind, and a sense of irony pervades the poem at its later stage.

Would you be my Marthe, be my Marthe twice?
Sit in the foreground, among trees, dressed in red,
with companions at Saint-Germain-en Laye, then,
once again, in the background behind the wide, flat
chestnut trees the artist loved so much—painted
with a passion—waiting for me? Would you wait,
Marthe number two, in the chestnut trees? Will you
play nice? In the chestnut trees? Call me from distance,
on your cell phone to come to you—siren's call—for you?
I will. I will come. Play nicely. Play nicely. Please advise.