*NEW* Poem: One That Almost Got Away

Okay, you know how they can be!  Poems that demand to be written, usually revealed in moving vehicles, the shower, or other places where neither traditional nor electronic writing utensils dare to follow.

This one started itself and then took a four day weekend, the brat! I knew the draft was missing something: too many thoughts? too few?  Were the ideas that were important ideas still there? Finally back from its holiday, I wrestled it into final form while it was too tired to battle me. Et voila! 

Painting Friendships

by Judith Cullen

© 2018

"Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."

~ Proverbs 27:17 (King James Version)

The same sensation

part invitation, part intimidation,

the unsullied canvas

where everything waits

for discovery.

Brush, palette poised,

washes, lines, and strokes,

suggestions of character,

shades of intention,

and hope.

Some compositions

take sweat, firm steadfastness;

shapes and hues revealed

with time, shared experiences

and fellowship.

Other expanses elude;

volumes and textures drawn

more from desires than actuality;

never truly meant to be,

inevitably discarded.

Then the few, the miracles,

when the picture finds the painter.

The colors, pattern, and rhythm

appear from the void, before

touching a brush.

Effortless, impressions,

flowing reflections so familiar;

renegade pieces of self

that somehow got away.

Gifts that complete.

Free of barriers these demand

deftness, the best craft

honest, exacting design, settling

for nothing less than

expert honesty.

Each anthem or abstract, teaches;

brief, longer, or a lifetime.

Honor each: lessons of love,

forgiveness, letting go,

facing what is true.

LISTEN HERE to this poem, read by the author
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