The Mind Gets Some Exposure

It’s my first time in a large museum.
I don’t know what to expect.

I find myself in gallery after gallery
of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus.

It makes me think of my mother,
her devotion to the two

And I love to say the names of
the artists under my breath.

Bellini, Botticelli, Giorgione:
the sounds are made for my tongue.

Slowly, the reverent gives way
to more human faces.

I even imagine one of the Spanish masters
painting my unlikely looks.

And finally, it all becomes more abstract,
shapes instead of faces.

Some, like men, attract me inexplicably.
Others drive me away.

I do notice there’s so few works by women.
I decide to leave that for a different poem.

A friend is always saying I need to improve my mind.
But I’m content to just take it places.

By: Juanita Rey

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Juanita Rey is a Dominican poet, US resident. Her work has been published in Mixed Mag, The Mantle, The Lincoln Review, Lion and Lilac amongst others.