Marilyn Peck: A Gift from a Friend

A Gift from a Friend

Still-life planned:
White watercolour paper.
Controlled brushstrokes, painting roses.
Blues, purples, crimson. Yellow flows.
Mixes into unexpected shapes.
Drapes, wraps around edges, drying.
Paper tilted, taped tight on a board.
Drips, runs, slow, lies in pools,
Spreading feathered strokes, brush
Drying edges where roses are showing.
Stems prickle with thorns.
Easy shapes. Paint with a twist and turn.

Tip of a brush dipped into dark.
Pick up water with a swift board tilt.
Brush-tip sharpens prickle shapes.
Real roses spread out where they lie
superb, still. Captured with brushstrokes
they continue opening, their real petals dying.
Red roses on paper are multiplying. Drying.

Marilyn Peck