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| Photograph by Michael Leckie |
Untitled
(After a Photograph by Michael Leckie)
Hard to say
whether he holds it up
or it holds him
The door frame
defining
Matisse cut out
Mondrian stripe
invitation
You may come in
he may not step across the line
to greet you
but Mona Lisa eyes
hint at welcome
invite your interruption
He is working
after all
dust of saw or knead
on broken-in boots
the apron with its traces
of wiped hands
and the hat –
for panache or warmth
or both
he might not offer you tea
but he wouldn’t mind hearing a story
working with the hands
leaves the brain free to roam
There is weather here
seasons go by and by
taking their toll on the blues
Christmas red rebirths
the inevitable sagging into grey
the sloping of shoulders
We fall for flourishes
forgetting
the lost art of simple
can be the marriage
of useful and beautiful
that enough can be a servant
too much a master
The organic compound of
purpose structure human
will not yield the secret of
which holds up which;
accidents of time
light on colour
cannot be separated
like white from yoke; experience
cannot be washed from hands;
the face will tell the story of years
as surely as the rain-worn paint.
10/30
NaPoWriMo
2014
Besides Matisse and Mondrian, I kept being put in mind of Gaughin's Ia Orana Maria at the Met. The classical structure of
this piece – the use of colour to lead the eye was somehow embedded in the
photograph.
Prompt for Day 11:
The Name I Call Myself
Update! Just found this great article on naming babies - maybe it will help inspire!
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