Diego Velasquez, La Venus de Espejo 1644-1648


To Camille Duplessis...

Sumptuous is the feast that your skin bares,

a soft expanse of refulgent whiteness,

laid out among the silken intricacies of Valenciennes lace.

Perfection conceived in my mind,

I relish dining on the succulence of your roseate flesh.

My ambidextrous hands, like the tenderness of cutlery

trace the delicate undulations of curving spine,

Consciously intimate of that sweetness imbuing your honeyed breasts.