--
Drawing from Life
Two apples and a peach. The bruised pear
I replaced in the slick Tesco bag,
and the chequered tablecloth I folded
neatly along its pattern.
So the fruit
sits on the polished wood, reflecting.
I have pinned a new sheet of paper
to my board with due tautness
and determination. Now I look
with proper eyes.
See the colours and curves and the lines
which do not exist. Let the point
of the pencil trace out their relationships,
balance them perfectly in the space
allotted;
considering, as I think, that one side
of my brain says that this peach is simply
a peach, like any other peach, categorises
and dismisses peach,
and the other side
sees this peach with special grace
so deep and unique that I could lose
myself in peach for hours
while somewhere
else an urgent hand counts time
like a Dickensian clock,upright
and bewhiskered.
As I forget to think,
only feel the shapes and hues,
the luscious greens and yellows
blushing into scarlet and vermilion
stripes like the tulips I held years ago,
soot-black pollen on my fingers,
taste of butter on my tongue,
the gold and apricot velvet arcing
against a dim blue plane of wall.
These are only three fruit, says reason,
set out on a board, but intuition
rolls them out like little worlds
and opens wide the gates of Eden.
grasshopper
|