To Miss Makrina
by Linda Simone
After Diane Arbus’s photo, “Miss Makrina, a Russian midget, in her kitchen, N.Y.C.,” 1959. Motionless in river of light she looks at me, freeze-frame, through unremarkable specs. I know you, Russian, a little person, caught mid-swab, mop in hand. In your tidy kitchen do you need a stepstool to reach nearly everything? A homemaker, you dress the part: print blouse, dark skirt, sensible shoes, hair pulled off your full-moon face. I’ll bet you barely finished that cup of coffee on the table because, like me, you have to do things that occur to you, immediately, without hesitation, enjoying how your floor now glows.
Linda Simone’s most recent poetry book is The River Will Save Us (Kelsey Books). Her poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies, most recently, Moon Shadow Sanctuary Press and Kallisto Gaia Press. They have also appeared in storefront windows, on buses, and on menus. In addition to writing poetry, Simone is a watercolor artist who enjoys a loose, impressionist style, and also likes to paint on recycled teabags. Born and raised in New York, she now lives in San Antonio, Texas.