Lauren Cox
The Lunatic of Étretat
Eye contact and a firm handshake. Now will you take me seriously? Look at me. Look. I draw my own water. Barefoot goddess that you refuse to pray to. Hope clings to me and I will guard it from you. What do you know of sacrifice? Whose knuckles bleed on the washboard that yours may hold this graceless brush? My calluses carry multitudes. My garments are soft with age, and they bear the stuff of living. I dust my feet on your doorstep. Take your shoes back to whomever polished them. Send me the woman who fetches your water. Do you know her name? Carry your lunatic woman to the gilded parlor of smoking men. They will avoid my eyes. *Merle, Hugues. The Lunatic of Étretat. 1871. Image courtesy of Arnot Art Museum on Facebook. Wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hugues_Merle_-_The_Lunatic_-_Arnot_Art_Museum.jpg Lauren is a twenty-two-year-old bisexual woman from Columbus, Ohio. She is currently working her way through art school by teaching ballet to all ages at a local community arts center. She loves all things art and creativity. She views her writing as a way to detangle her thoughts and emotions into something tangible and succinct. At present, her work revolves around her wrestle with religion, sexual orientation, and her journey into an unknown chapter of life. |