From My Window

From My Window

 

From my window I see the canvas on the easel

ready for the artist to spread her vibrant hues throughout

the day, bringing life to the gray-dawned morning

and color to the lightly sketched scene that sprawls  before me.

 

Throughout the morning she works on the greens and yellows

of the trees across the river, bursting with young spring

life and the promise of a full summer of cool shade

and comforting shelter from sudden soaking showers.

 

Next, she takes her brush to the foreground to highlight

the new delicate leaves of the closer trees that hint

of the color they will wear when the air turns cool

in autumn, as a newborn’s dependency foretells old age.

 

Finally, as the day wears on and the tide floods the flats,

the artist applies her blues to the sky and the river,

covering the brown mud and shrinking the island,

like a child who hasn’t learned to color within the lines.

 

Marty Luster