Yellow Seated Female Nude by Richard Weaver

         -Inspired by Franz Marc's painting of the same name

Dearest Prince,

When my Dresden letter to you
returned today, I was distressed
and felt a moment of panic,
and wondered if you had wandered 

beyond this earth and its naked eyes. 

And then I remembered the water cure.

Kneipp’s early answer to distress.
I was relieved to know you were whole 

and that our worries were without merit. 

Please forgive me for my doubtfulness. 

My vision was obscured by my heart.

You are our cloud of knowing.
Be sure of that. Be comforted.
We are your hosts. We wish
we were worthy angels in flesh.
Our apologies for being less.
                           - the Blue Rider

Post-Covid, Richard Weaver has returned as the writer-in-residence at the James Joyce Pub. Among his other publications: conjunctions, Louisville Review, Southern Quarterly, Birmingham Arts Journal, Coachella Review, FRIGG, Hollins Critic, Xavier Review, Atlanta Review, Dead Mule, Vanderbilt Poetry Review, and New Orleans Review. He’s the author of The Stars Undone (Duende Press, 1992), and wrote the libretto for a symphony, Of Sea and Stars (2005) which has been performed 3 times in Alabama, and once at Juilliard in NYC. He was one of the founders of the Black Warrior Review and its Poetry Editor for the first three years. Five poems from his Franz Marc manuscript will be appearing in the Alabama Anthology (Nov. 2023). His 200th prose poem was recently accepted.

Yellow Seated Female Nude by Franz Marc