The Return of the Fishing Boat, Giovanni Boldini
Oil on Panel, 5 ½  x 9 5/16 inches

They’re all down there
at the beach
examining the catch—
businessmen and their finery wives
the cleaning woman and the nurse
and a couple of boys longing
to go out next time

It looks more like a wreck
than a return.
As the evening clouds close in,
a torn sail, debris
across the beach stones
so round and sea-worn
(you feel them under your feet
as though bare
in the long museum linoleum).
Has it been a long time
since the boat left?  Who are
these welcoming people?
The small child mid-canvas,
the only one with her back to the scene
to look us in the eye.
There’s a story there, certain.

And another in the smallness
of this painting—
was he thinking to save cost in postage?—
A one-haired brush with a drop of oil
(see the roses on the lady’s hat! how
the dog sniffs at her shoe)
Each smooth stone more minute
than the half-moon
of a child’s fingernail
(and still the girl’s face looking out
is clear, steady)

Miss, you are too close, please
stand back, says the guard politely.
Yes, I am too close and
I do stand back.
Oh, Boldini! you knew
Oily and magnetic with details
how much larger is the world
reduced

Virginia Weir