On painting the images of deities
by Matina L Stamatakis
[ poetry - april 07 ]
i
These gentle portraits of sun,
their coagulated blot-outs, faint
cartouches of vine-work and wisteria.
ii
Most people do not realize
how long it takes to paint a picture.
A portrait of Jesus takes
thirty-three years. Possibly more.
iii
Over time, expect tarnished craqueleur
to give way to a lustrous finish.
Or a slip of film, rotating in the mechanical
projector of our bodies, to suddenly reveal
our innermost thoughts in sepia.
I've been pruning my thoughts
into a well-blossomed Monet lily -
a lifetime of dreams and spring nymph
landscapes - aware of the tiniest leaf.
iv
Be fruitful, fruition. Be a rock against
the finer grains. The strength to brush
out mountains.
These greater clouds widen, shadow-bound,
pushing themselves to the corners of the globe,
where the intricate, nestling skins of our sleeping
eyes will rest only when the final brush is stroked
with the tenderness of fingers.
