YOUNG PEASANT GIRL TO THE ARTIST, JULES BRETON

(after the painting, Young Peasant Girl with Hoe, by Jules Breton)

Yes, I will sit for you—

there is more to life

than toil from first light

to setting sun.

But, draw me quick,

I have work to do.

You think I’m beautiful?

Then, work your art.

Keep me forever young

because we both know

that I will age too soon,

my face will become as

furrowed as this field,

my hands and feet,

calloused and cracked.

My body that you admire

will grow old and hunched

from this—how did you put it?—

idyllic, rustic life.

I am no fool.

Your painting of me

will hang in some salon

where your friends

and those with money

will praise the quality of your hand

while they look at mine.

But, I know

that when we both are dead

and in this ground,

it will be me that people look at,

and I will look at them from your canvas,

admired in this moment.