The Reappearance of Mona Lisa
Lucille Gang Shulklapper
The blood and flesh of Mona Lisa flows
like oil on wood through my daughter.
Droplets of oil stream from distant mountains
behind her. As wood absorbs color, het skin pales,
the corners of her mouth turn her smile secret,
the blackened corners of her eyes brush mine.
Now when she mouths lines from drawn lips, I
guess at meanings of colors muted. Where is my stolen
child? The one whose hand once reached for mine
beneath the minutely folded sleeves of her dress?
Lucille Gang Shulklapper is a workshop leader for the Council for Florida Libraries and The Center for the Book. She has published recently in Slant, Red Booth Review, and Into the Teeth of the Wind. A first chapbook has recently been published, What You Cannot Have (Flarestack Publishing).