T. R. Poulson
At the Thoroughbred Auction With My Lover
Kentucky hardboots, drunk with money, peer
at lists of lots, then cram around the ring
when Songbird is led in. The auctioneer
waits
silent, as her wins replay. A string
of them. Her red blanket unveils. She kicks.
A maiden, suitable for mating. Her broken blaze
tosses with the bids. I’ve got five million. Now six.
Songbird pauses, piaffes. Wrong sport. I’m amazed
at how men speak so fast. So clear. At nine
point five million, she’s sold. A woman takes her
home. Her stall glimmers gold where bloodlines
matter. Her future foals will play on acres
of bluegrass. Train to race. For now, computer
dating sites profile her stallion suitors.
Dog
On Christmas I gave my roommate a retriever
ornament,
dubbed her stories sad, said I
would never let her down. We shared slivers
of life and lipstick. Dance club lights. We cried
and ordered Chinese takeout. Confided love,
football plays fumbled away, even as her lies
grew strange. I noticed everything: gloves
and money gone for no reason. She listed
my transgressions one by one, even shoved
me once. Cooked me dinner, after. Her fist
broke drywall—that was nothing, I’d misspoken—
one day her punches flew like birds. Blood misted
our surf girl poster—shadows dark on broken
ocean. It was September, but the canine
weighted her pocket, ready. That token
of friendship. Still, I see her arm unwind
with the dog, her eyes calm, her playlist planned:
Joan Jett sang hey, little liar. My mind
cleared with the arc of flight. Her hands. Strands
of glass. I feel the doorknob still. My hand
cold and bare and burning like a brand.
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| Anna Lee Hafer is a studio artist based in the Philadelphia area whose work is heavily influenced by such famous surrealist painters as René Magritte, Salvador Dali, and Pablo Picasso, all of whom strove to build their own realities through small glimpses into a particularly confusing, but utterly unique worldview that dictates its own specific set of instructions. With references to the laws and physics of Alice's Wonderland, the artist challenges the audience's inherent understanding of perspective, reality, and universal order.
In her work, Hafer pours and layers paint to create dimension and texture, mixing different styles and colors onto each other until they produce a 3D effect. Through marker and pencil that create shadow, she further enhances these forms and separates them from the background. Heavier layers and thicker brushstrokes in the foreground of her work push the painting toward the viewer, whereas the thinner layers and small brushstrokes in the background, elongate the space and push away from the viewer. By juxtaposing interior and exterior elements, Hafer makes the audience question whether they are looking at something inside or outside.
For additional information, please visit www.hafer.work.
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