Nude Piano

by Kendall Merriam

Nude Piano
for Richard and Edna St. Vincent Millay

Are you practicing for when
Josephine Baker is reincarnated
she a heroine, you conscious
of deep soul beauty
your photographs call
“Look at me! Look at me!”
“I am lovely for the camera!”
these images carry on for eons
long after condemning clerics
are dust out in the Universe
Gods and Goddesses
hang works of yours
in millions of museums
galleries, palaces, huts
that keep us aware of women
outwardly, in minds and talents
now you make music
getting ready for halls
where a dime a dance
flourishes, in no way “sinful”
there is a lot of talk of Vincent
who lived a life
more to your work
than staid ladies
not realizing how she really
thought, acted, wrote, loved
when you are pleased
enough with your handling
of the keys, maybe a few
of us could chip in
for speakers on your house
aimed at her Rockland birth place
and you could play away
giving her a real reason
to dance again