the gentle assonance of her name

is there in her castdown gaze,

every repetition chiming its

muted, minor key. She looks at

something outside the frame,

but does she see it? Perhaps

her vision’s reigned by the

thousand a’s—amongst other

letters—which balance on her

head, straighten her posture.

The weight of the books should

ground her but instead, her neck

starts to ache, tilting—ever so

slightly—to the left.


Notes:

In response to Anna Attinga Frafra by Paul Strand, 1964, Medium:

Gelatin silver print, Dimensions:19.4 × 24.4 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art.