l'inconnue

closed eyes
soft smile
hair parted
neatly so

who could ever guess
that that face,
one ever seen
hanging in homes in nineteen-hundred

is that of a girl, drowned
washed up on the seine?
demure, knowing
mona lisa-esque

l'inconnue de la seine
unknown girl
known smile
kissed lips

replicated as
art, as
the cpr dummy, as
the most-kissed face of all.
 
A

Abriatis

NY

YWP Alumni

More by Abriatis

See all

  • Poetry

    By Abriatis

    i am me.

    it's 12am on nine-eleven-twenty-twenty.
    my name is rowan, and i am eighteen.
    i have struggled. i have cried. i did not think i'd make it this far.
    i did not think i'd do half the things i have.

    Read More

  • Poetry

    By Abriatis

    nine-eleven

    to think that i will be a legal adult tomorrow.
    i could vote. i could buy fish at petsmart.
    i could apply to places like aldi's and tractor supply.

    my birthday, for me, has always been tinged with sadness.

    Read More

  • Poetry

    By Abriatis

    placidity

    i watch the numbers tick up.
    i read the headlines.
    suny oneonta shuts down for the semester -
    six hundred cases.

    i go outside.
    i see the masks, worn properly or not.
    the spraying of hand sanitizer,

    Read More