Self Portrait as a Tehuana, 1943 and Self Portrait, 1948.
Two self-portraits in elaborate Tehuana headdress
Two disembodied faces. Frida’s famous
penetrating gaze, dark eyebrows, faint moustache
carnal red lips. In the eyes he sees the difference
In the earlier painting she stares from the canvas
a devouring spider at the centre of a web
of white and black tendrils. White fibres
spring live wire from the huipil to the world
beyond the frame. Unrooted black tentacles
grope unruly for earth from the veins of green leaves
that adorn the bougainvillea and daises in her hair
Diego smiles at his miniature likeness,
a third eye, a portrait within a portrait
painted on her brow. So like Frida
to mimic the portraits of Catholic nuns
who hold the image of Christ
Does Frida dream she can capture him
or is she satisfied simply to trap
the thought of him on her forehead?
In the later canvas her face pokes through
the elaborate headdress as if through a stage flat
The flowers are faded and sere, the vegetation
withered in the background. She painted
three pearl teardrops on her cheeks
Her face is composed, but he sees
the turmoil, the rejection and rage
beneath her skin, the sadness in her eyes
One Tehuana bride for devouring love
the other for surrender
