Studio Shelf
A half dozen cups
filled with pencils, brushes and knives
sit conversing
as old painter friends
in the artist's studio.
* * * *
Here's a Dutchman driven to abstraction
to use only black lines and primary colors
and simplify Nature's elements into- rectangles!
The glisten of wet bricks on a wide boulevard
dotted with black hats and umbrellas
made Paris forever synonymous with rain.
Vincent found his “Sunflowers” in Arle's halos
of ecstatic color
he called “kingdoms of light”.
Henri loved the tainted nightlife of Montmartre;
so did his friend the cabaret singer, whose face
and red scarf made Latrec's posters famous.
Sunday afternoon on La Grande Jatte:
Sun and shadow, trees, lake, people of every class
enjoying the park- all are points of light.
Miro escaped the tragic times through his
“Constellations”: sublime stars, moons and gawky birds,
a salvation for the spirit.
* * * *
In the end
they share with us their common story:
We live in a world saved by beauty.
--Girard Berry
