Sapphires and Rubies

(Copy of American Gothic is from Gabriele Lusser Rico's book Writing the Natural Way)

My brother paints-

I am posing as a common wife-
a farmers wife
I too am a painter
I do not know this man I stand beside-

His eyes are hard and determined-
His pitchfork says, I rise early, work hard

The farmer's passion is
domination of his house, land, wife, children-

I long for my paint brush-
my sapphires and rubies

This apron I wear says, I will bake him bread, clean his clothes and feed his chickens-

And in the evening when he sets his pitchfork down,
his grim mouth will say-
You are my woman

My fingers twitch-
I am going to live in Paris next year.

Dear Readers,
I love this poem. It explores the possibilities of women as independent artists. I find myself often pondering the question of why there aren't more women writers and painters. I wrote Sapphires and Rubies about ten years ago, using an exercise out of Gabriele Lusser Rico's book "Writing the Natural Way." I used the picture "American Gothic" and wrote out lists of words that I associated with this picture.
The list of words might have looked something like this:
farmer:
land
pitch-fork
hay
cattle
hard work

farmer's wife:
apron
chickens
children
laundry
cooking meals

As I work the word list, something will click inside of me (a light bulb moment). The click might express itself as an idea, picture or even a key word that the rest of the poem will be built around.