On Justice
– portrait of Margareta van Eyck, Groeninge Museum, Bruges
Here I am
every bit as real
an image as you.
How come you
get to breathe?
Look at this mastery,
the skill applied here, and here,
the dab of light
on the flesh
at the corner of the eye –
How good are you?
What do you do so well?
Why is it oxygen burns
when it touches
the blood in your lungs?
First published in Other Poetry III.3