The Art of Serving
By Elise Tomlinson
Oil on Canvas 26" x 30"

Naked Island 

Before she opens her eyes, she smells sharp spruce on the shore of her bed. 
Leaving him sleeping, she rises to make rich, black coffee. 
The wind turns slightly and the blue sheets shiver. 
She offers him the mug in return for a glance at her belly. He rubs a foot along her thigh. 
Soon, like a pigeon guillemot, he begins to unfold, a spiral against sheets of wind. 
The coffee in his cup grows cold; an oily sheen rises. 
She feels the wind shift, smells the coming tide, tries to hold back the light. 
He rises anyway, above the interest of her bed, moves away from her tightly furled self. 
She watches him go, as she knew he would, his body lost against the edge of her sea. 

Emily Wall