Noticing “Winter” (Jean Antoine Houdon)
by Alice Feeley, RDC
“Is she cold?” asks a tiny boy staring
At the woman standing bare
In bronze for centuries of winter,
Head hidden,
Skimpy shawl her only cover.
“Is she scared, afraid?” He knows
The feel of fear that needs to hide,
To pull his blanket over face and head,
Hoping to disappear.
"Winter" is by sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC