still life

you must come
over and see my etchings,
Lydia
tells me on the phone.
I've been working on a charcoal
sketch
of a tree.
lovely, I tell her.
maybe you could do me, as
well.
I could pose
by the fireplace.
no, she says. I don't do
still life.
I like things that
are in bloom,
and full of vigor.