after Paul Cadmus, Jerry (1931)
In Puerto de Andraitx we wake after the dark-haired fishermen have reached the far side of the bay.
A sponge bath over the basin, a shave.
For hours we draw on cheap newsprint until the sun clears the mountains and the light shifts from pinot gris to buttermilk
then we eat oranges and figs.
For hours more we paint, oil on canvas, two easels facing away from each other on the small terrace.
Before the day fades we walk the pie-crust beaches of the little coves, slip out of our clothes and swim.
Back at the pensión – no carpet, only a charcoal stove – I nap in the echoes of the afternoon. Later, I see you’ve sketched me sleeping. My body reclining towards the horizon like the headland.
I cook you tomatoes and eggs.
When the lamp is lit, you read
aloud to me from bed
while I make notes for a painting
I will begin tomorrow.
Jarad Bruinstroop is a writer who lives in Brisbane. His work has appeared in Cordite Poetry Review, Australian Poetry Journal, Rabbit Poetry Journal, Australian Poetry Anthology, Peril Magazine and Foglifter (US). He was shortlisted for the 2019 Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize. He is undertaking a PhD at QUT. @jbruinstroop