home	what's new

MY VERY SLICK SONNET

go to menu bar for site sections

Written about my experiences during my spay surgery for uterine cancer and my week of beginning recovery at my dear friend Michael's home.

MY VERY SLICK SONNET

by Pam Green , © 2026

(to tune of White Rabbit by Grace Slick)

One cookie makes you larger , one cookie makes you small,
And the ones that Michael baked for me are the very best of all.
Go tell Gracie, if she's at the mall
That Rodin is hard at work in the Centaur's stall.
And if my dogs go chasing rabbits, they'd better Come when I Recall
Or I'll trade them for a Cheshire Cat in the window in the wall,
Enigmatic orange Cheshire who won't even fetch a ball.

When logic and proportion and consciousness are fled,
As the White Knight commands me to count backwards,
And the Queen prepares her knife,
I'm reliving when Rodin sculpted me as The Helmetmaker's Wife,
Not knowing if I will wake again in a recovery ward room's bed
To remember what the Dormouse said :
"I'm not yet dead, not yet dead"

footnotes

the cookie that makes you smaller must contain GLP-1 drugs

Centauresse ("The Centauress") is a provocative bronze sculpture modeled by Auguste Rodin in 1887. It blends a galloping horse body with an elongated female torso, symbolizing the human struggle between earthly desires and the soul's ethereal impulses.
Key Details & Symbolism :
The Amalgam: Instead of creating a traditional equestrian monument, Rodin "mashed" together elements from his existing works. The horse was initially designed for a monument to a Chilean general, while the female torso was adapted from a male figure in The Gates of Hell.
Contradictory Natures: In his own descriptions, Rodin stated the sculpture represents "an image of the soul whose ethereal impulses remain miserably imprisoned in the corporeal mire". Gender Ambiguity: Although primarily female in the midsection, the head of the creature is often interpreted as male, adding an intriguing layer of gender fluidity and internal conflict to the piece.
Notable Casts & Where to See Them : Rodin's studio produced multiple casts of the figure and its distinct torso in bronze and marble. Notable examples reside in major global collections: Philadelphia Museum of Art: Features the iconic full Centauresse bronze (cast in 1925), which is frequently exhibited in their Rodin Museum galleries. Musée Rodin (Paris): Holds various iterations, including the famous marble version.
LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art): Houses the beautifully textured Female Centaur bronze. (I love this one, which I've seen many times while I lived in the area.)

"La Belle Heaulmière" ("The Helmet Maker's Once-Beautiful Wife") is a famous bronze sculpture created by French artist Auguste Rodin between 1885 and 1887.
The Inspiration: It is based on a 15th-century poem of the same name by François Villon, which mourns the loss of a woman's legendary beauty to the ravages of old age.
The Model: Rodin modeled the sculpture after Marie Caira, an 82-year-old Italian woman. Instead of idealizing the human form, he created a starkly realistic, naturalist work focusing on the physical decline of the body.
Where to Find It: You can view this iconic piece at major institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Brooklyn Museum, or the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo.
https://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/musee/collections/oeuvres/she-who-was-helmet-makers-once-beautiful-wife

WHAT'S NEW ?

SITE INDEX	BOUVIER	RESCUE	DOG CARE
PUPPY REARING	TRAINING	PROBLEMS	WORKING DOGS
BOOKS	VERSE	IMAGES	MISCELLANEOUS

return to top of page

site author Pam Green	copyright 2003
created 4/29/2026	revised 7/18/2026
return to top of page	return to Site Index