Ruby in White

by Ahreeda Ryter

After Norman Rockwell’s The Problem We All Live With

Rockwell put Ruby in white—
a white dress, a white bow,
white socks, white shoes—
white like paper, like the pages
of Exodus, the Declaration of Independence,
the Fifteenth Amendment.
White like clouds & cotton
& teeth & light
& heaven’s pearly gates.
White like milk & the bread of life.

 

Ahreeda Ryter’s short fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in Epiphany Magazine, The Decadent Review, The Bookends Review, Scribble Lit, Revolute, Prism Review, Mystery Tribune, Eleutheria, LAMP, and other places. Ahreeda holds an MFA from Lindenwood University, is the Poetry Editor of Polis Journal of Literature and Art, and teaches at Central Virginia Community College.

 

Image: Artwork Courtesy of the Norman Rockwell Family Agency