Sunshine In Black And White

An ekphrastic poem on the painting “Women in Black” by Marianne von Werefkin (Russia), 1910.

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By marriage and need

they accepted the seed

which they bore in due course

without undue remorse;

some singing, some crying,

some dying while trying.

In peasantry raiment

of dulled whites and blacks

and bedecked not with jewels,

but full, heavy sacks,

the burdens of life

bent the strongest of backs.

Not working in mines,

but a household assigns

daily tasks without measure,

routines without leisure;

men toiled for their earnings

while women hid yearnings.

The strength of their youth

becomes stronger with age

though it’s stiffened by toils

in which they must engage,

with just faith, hope, and family’s

love to assuage.

The earnings of men

must be counted on, then,

to earn the day’s bread,

keep a roof overhead,

but the women bake loaves

as they tend to their stoves.

In the dark before dawn

daily chores were begun,

and when daylight had passed

there were more to be done,

but they kept valleys green

with the warmth of their sun.

By Ken Gosse

From: United States

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