"Ladyslippers"____by Cindy Skidgel
painter
perhaps a sharper eye
might grace this paint
with a subtle breathe
follow the taunting whispers
of louder muses than I
Michaelangelo heard those gifted voices
echoing like heaven's choir
among the Sistine's vaulted ceilings
for years of fevered passion
intimate pain
Vincent mad with color
lifted irises like bold lovers
ran away with fresh moments
a vivid romance with oozing golds
flaming crimson
never subtle
and then there is Wyeth's world
aging wood and weathered man
a soft light on skin
deep shadows casting reality
beyond its own window
I am lost to earthly cares
days are given too easily away
the turpentine vapors evaporate
on fickle winds of time and weak excuse
a foolish parade
perhaps a sharper eye
might grace this paint
and grant a canvas with immortal mark
cast line and form
in these precious sands
but I will know no sad regret
for having walked less noble roads
as long as my eye and heart commune
my soul is fed
my fever soothed
and I am there on that scaffold
crouching cold in the dawn light
reaching for that perfect fragile color
scraping a fresh palette
and making sure and lasting etchings
on this forgotten day
