I was thinking of this painting while I was down in the wood earlier and scanned through my posts here to find it and couldn’t. So, here’s an old painting (well 2007) along with the poem that went with it.
And here is the poem…
LEAF BY GRAEME
If I could choose a leaf to paint
I’d paint a Leaf by Niggle
It wouldn’t be a sketchy scrawl
It wouldn’t be a squiggle
But with veins and pores and chlorophyl
A stem and ribs and branch
It would have a soft bright sheen
I’d not leave that to chance
Along one edge, I’d paint a drop
Of water sifting light
And beads of dew along the stem
Refracting morning light
It wouldn’t be just any leaf
But a bright green leaf by Niggle
So enchanting to the eye
You’d not suppress a giggle
Of delight
At such a sight
Around the leaf I’d paint a sky
A forest, a horizon
I’d paint brisk clouds layer upon layer
Such as you’d never set eyes on
A house, a path, a road, a train,
The moon, the stars, the sun
Your reflections in the water drop
A different one for each or you
There, it’s done
And just for fun
If finally, if you’d look close
You’d make out far away
A silhouette, with brush in hand
A little shy
Against the sky
Beyond the Leaf, the glade and sky
Just off the path and lost in thought
Admiring dewdrops on the grass
That’s where you’d find me.
(Poem by John Howe)
