The Painter

Michael Anthony

It was a kind of family secret,

the paintings without names

Her modesty much stronger than her ego

 

Explosions of hues and brightness and joy

Capturing light as the mother of reflections on water,

and the spaces between shadows and curves

that spoke through the language of her brushes

 

It was how she talked to our hearts

when words, at times,

seemed the more difficult path for love

 

She stopped painting years before she left us,

but she wanted me to have the painting

of the flowers in the vase

A bouquet I gave her long ago for Mother’s Day

 

It hangs now in our bedroom,

near an eastward facing window,

where her gift assures me

as I turn out the light on another day

some of her will still be here

when I wake tomorrow

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Comments +

Comments3

  • Goldfinch60

    Her will will always be with you Michael.

    Andy

    • Michael Anthony

      Thanks Andy! This piece will help me remember that.

    • Doggerel Dave

      Great work - tells the story with both texture and rhythm.
      Sorry I'm not expressing myself too well here - suffice to say it really moved me.

      • Michael Anthony

        Thanks Dave! Always appreciate someone taking the time to visit.

      • L. B. Mek

        (a truly beautiful dedication, thanks for sharing!)
        'near an eastward facing window,
        where her gift assures me'..
        or in other words:
        'where a morning's first-glimpsed rising sun, gifts me
        a swim - within
        nostalgic mementos, of her unwavering beaming smile
        and forgiving eyes
        that conveyed - wholeheartedly: welcoming warmth...'

        • Michael Anthony

          I like your reimagining f the last stanza L.B. - beautiful!



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