Poetry Thursday - 'Margaret Laton's Jacket' by Steve Barker

Oil portrait of Margaret Laton, probably by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, about 1620, probably London, England, UK. Museum no. E.214-1994 (via)

Margaret Layton's Jacket

Beyond the mullioned windows -
while you sat stock-still –

dogs chased boars
through intricate thickets,

sails of Spanish galleons
weighed the wind.

Now your ruff,
your feathered hat, have fled,

as has your flesh,
for all its porcelain.

Here, though, is your jacket –
its spangled braille

asking to be touched,
its birds and bay leaves

perched and poised
in the present air.

When it was sewn a second time
with an artist's brush, 

your breasts filled
the embroidered circles

I could now so easily
circle with my hand.

You wore it last
four hundred years ago,

and yet I feel
your jacket is still warm.

   - Steve Barker (via)

Embroidered linen jacket, originally made for Margaret Laton (about 1590-1641) in about 1610, altered about 1620, England, UK. Museum no. T.228-1994

The V&A has commissioned various poets to write poems based on its collection, notably in connection with the opening of the British Galleries 1500-1900.