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Close to Shore

Close to Shore

Thinking back through life, some of the most memorable moments are not the happiest ones.  Grief, sorrow, and loss are a part of life, and we can only hope that brighter days will come soon.  This painting reflects upon our ability to cope with that state of human experience.

I recently attended a Seattle Center for the Book Arts workshop with my wife Andree who is a board member, and while there, I met Meredith Clark, a gifted Seattle poet who was offering her poetry writing services on the spot.  When I briefly described the main points of this painting, this is the poem she came up with, and it sums up my feelings beautifully:

Dark lake, late light.  Please

shut the gate tight behind you.  There are always

things that want to work their way in

to these kinds of places where days

close and nights begin.  If we float out

far from either shore, there will be stars

to count.  The sentinels, we cannot

see them anymore.  All around, the dark

paints out the colors that were once

so thick.  Remember them, the waters lull

later and later against the hull.

            -Meredith Clark