She was a woman painted in oil
against a glittering of gold leaf,
one of a number of beautiful,
wealthy, bourgeois Viennese.
She became sacred and magical,
posed on a golden chair, merging
with the golden geometrical
patterns of her dress, almost fading
into the canvas, not theatrical
but melancholic and aloof,
one could say vulnerable
among triangles, eggs and eyes.
Kim M. Russell, 31st March 2025
It’s that time of the year again, the final day of March, and the preamble to Na/GloPoWriMo 2025. At NaPoWriMo.net they will be, as usual, featuring a participant, resource, and optional prompt every day.
Today we have an early-bird portrait prompt. To get a sense of the breadth of style and form that these poems can take, we’ve been given examples by Anni Liu’, John Yau and Karl Kirchwey. Our challenge is to write a portrait poem: a self-portrait, a portrait of someone well known to us, or even a poem inspired by an actual painted portrait. I have loved Klimt’s art since I was a teenager, have written several poems about him, and my husband gave me a print of this painting as a Christmas present several years ago, so I couldn’t resist writing about it.
writing in north norfolk 
Hi Kim! It’s great to read you again. I love your piece especially the last two lines where my beautiful Monday brain painted a macropoem in a poem. “Among triangles / eggs / eyes / could one say / vulnerable?
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Thank you so much, Gloria, and for the macro poem. I’m delighted to catch up with you again.
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I love the Klimt painting and your words to go with it are so beautiful. ❤️
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Thank you, Elise! ❤
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oh, how beautiful Kim 🫶
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Thank you, Mich!
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I especially love that last line about triangles, eggs and eyes.
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Thank you, Melissa.
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I so love Klimt! Reading your poem was like meeting an old friend. (Well, two actually – yourself also, after all these years of meeting online.)
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Thank you so much, Rosemary. I also think of you as an old friend.
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A beautiful poem for a gorgeous painting. I’ve always loved Klimt.
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Thank you, Nolcha. He’s one of my favourites.
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Beautifully done. I love this painting. It has a very painful story.
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Thank you very much, Romana.
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Klimt did have an eye for the stunning, even in subtlety.
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He certainly did, Ken.
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