ON SEEING LEONARDO'S ST. ANNE AND THE VIRGIN

If I had
had her,
I would have lounged
like the holy baby
naked in her lap, and she too

would be fearless, firm on her
fearless mother's sturdy knees (not iconic
Anne, but red-haired Maria Malvina,
scholar); I would

have seen eternity
from there: larks, herons, ferns
like frilly vases, all
the adorned days to come, and new lambs
quicker to stand than I, and I

would have turned, reached
up two hands, touched her smooth, dark
hair, and stroked two hands her brow,
ears, her warm and shining
hair, my lady cara,


Susan Downe