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 Le Déjeuner des Canotiers62
If you drown in a marriage Do you come up speaking French?
We are looking at Renoir's Boating Party At the Phillips Gallery in D.C.
We both see how happy they all are
The women voluptuous in their hats
One holds a little dog up for a kiss
Another in a blue dress tilts her head with attention
The men so secure in their leisure
Wearing their manliness like a badge of honor
Relaxed in their soft clothes, bare arms
And in the blue corner, Gentlemen: top hatted, intent, upright
Over it all the blessed sunlight
Highlighting the dark wine in the carafes
And the grapes messed on the table
Bodies are swaying to the boat's movement
Intimacies are exchanged, songs are sung Stories are told, Blue hangs in
the corners
And my young husband says in his choked up and musical voice, "Why don't
we do that any more?"