Invisible Rules

Bathers by George Tooker
Visual prompt by Magpie Tales: Mag 277

Rules

the careful pas de deux

of strangers

navigating 

the beach.

Lines

drawn in the sand

polite society 

should know

not to cross.

Warnings

delivered by frigid stare

making it clear

surf yes, showers no.

Invisible lines

set by cultural rules

polite animals

do not need warning.

J. Binford-Bell

July 2012

1. In ballet, a pas de deux (French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The pas de deux is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well-known ballets, including Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Giselle.

Magpie Tales 94 - Isolation

Lunch by George Tooker

Isolation

Not natural

to eat

with a pack that is not yours.

We share

bread

only with our friends.

And eat

totally alone

when surrounded by strangers.

J. Binford-Bell

December 2011

I dined with friends last night. The experience was so dynamically different than George Tooker's painting. I live in a near wilderness surrounded by open space. But once I lived in a crowded city and took of food in crowded diners. Never I think was I so alone. So are all of Tooker's diners.

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