Claude Monet

Three boats were dragged onto the ecru shore,

sitting side by side,  

half lit in sunset, half black in shadow,

with a streak of yellow along each keel.

Spring had come to Giverny,

The gardens were extravagantly simple:

          the lilies alive in shades of purple pastels ,

                   the trees in lustrous evening oils.

( Camille in heaven cried

Long before Monet died

Knowing his sight,

his gift of light,

would fade away

Before the last breath,

before his last day.)

Strokes of radiance with unbounded control

made of colors innocent but bold.

Intimate lessons learned through life’s infinite array

       easily captured in the paintings

       of Claude Monet..

Before the painting dried,

the boats were gone;

mere marks on the horizon,

and empty water slapped the harbor

with shadows

that through myopic eyes

became perfection in his art.

© 2010 C. Harter Amos