Vertemus and Pomone(after Camille Claudel)

Rachel Fenton

Grafted together; we shared a love
of shining stone, though you got all the credit.

My portrait held your Balzac
to my imagined Ewelina,

a matrimonial façade you soon pulled off.
Wan masked, I was asked to pick straw at your feet

and from it I wove your form.
Marvel my hand, about your neck,

a revolt against nature; a woman genius,

I give you, love, your head,
eternally embraced on a barren field of red.

The Man with the Broken Nose(after Rodin)

Rachel Fenton

Look at you: in pieces and all because you lost
(the back of) your head. I’d like to finish you off,

knock your block off, bust your chops, kiln you
and parade your head through the rue on a stick.