John Singleton Copley, Anglo-American
Goldilocks Posing in Papa Bear’s Chair at the 75th Anniversary Celebration, 1764
Oil on canvas
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Artist info is pointed to in my comment at another blog entry.
/// The diminutive Anna D. Powell
hoped she’d grow, but then threw in the towel.
She’d get stretched every summer,
(‘ere she wed, she was Dummer).
Ask her now, you will hear disavowal.
/// In the book held on Mrs. P’s lap
is a summary and a recap
of her life, bold and fiery.
(She is small, but she’s wiry!)
You’d want her on your side in a scrap.
/// Mrs. Powell enjoyed perching here.
She found Copley to be quite sincere,
since he helped her to get
a new silver tea set
that had been fashioned by Paul Revere.
/// Anna Powell is elderly; her
body’s ancient and odd things occur.
From her face, few folks can
decide— woman or man?
(Many gender distinctions will blur.)
/// She most certainly wouldn’t perch there
had she been even slightly aware
of the risk she is taking
of her brittle bones breaking,
just by sitting on Graham’s Big Red Chair.
(A reference to a brief segment at the end of The Graham Norton Show in which a pressed button sends the chair and its occupant toppling backward.)