EEN GLAS MELK
(A GLASS OF MILK)

Here - the lady stops
pouring milk from her pitcher

turns and gasps
to see me see her

as she
is!

"Shooo!" she says in Dutch.
"You are not allowed in here!"

"Je bent hier niet toegestaan!"
in a blue and yellow voice.

And there a lady pauses
to read her letter

stops to see
me stare.

"Go away!"( she mouths )"Ga weg!"

But I am a child
and can enter anywhere

my mind takes me
inside this Vermeer

or whatever
paint offers.

I see them both
in the before and after

the moment
captured

not merely being
what the title says.

I put first one foot
over the gilded frame

then the other and
follow where

they go
I go

becoming molecule by molecule
the pigment that they are

living the life
of paint.

"Gee honey see
that shadow that

shadow there
looks like that little kid

that was here
only a moment

ago I
hold my breath

stand perfectly still until
the obese tourist

moves on
to the next(click!)pic.

"Oooh you!"
scolds Vermeer's lady

".You nearly got us caught!"
("Je hebt ons bijna betrapt!")

Then she laughs
toussels my curls

pours me
a glass of milk!