UNREHEARSED ELEGY FOR A PEASANT WOMAN HOLDING A PEAR
Standing tall. Like a leafless tree, the blue behind is more intense than just a blue background. Motionless. Thick wool socks upholster the arthritic knees and above. Black wool dress in two parts covers the erected body. Rough, faded skirt down below the knees. Uncut. Tough. Black, shapeless long-sleeved cardigan. Austere faded vest. Must have been black. Something like a rugged long apron covers the front below her chest in bleached-by-the-sun plain, basic canvas. An old brown leather belt over the apron. Shaggy beaten buckle divides and targets the midsection of this monumental silhouette. No face. Maybe a black scarf or a piece of a tied-up veil. A bundle of silent presence. A human post. A heap of rudimentary contours in the teeth and in spite of all opposition to time passing.