Poem by Dan Stone
It could appear
there’s nothing here to see
Not much happening.
But that suggests a certain
failure to perceive
the moving current
of an image
and a book.
There’s a story
waiting to be titled,
action somewhere below
the surface in the scene,
pulsing through the paint.
What was the intent?
Portrait or still life?
The artist might say
yes—exactly
what I meant.
A portrait of what flows
through a still life.
A stirring tale of nothing
going on but words
on a page, sunflowers
shining in a vase.
As you wish.
Peace is often pictured
as an absence, the lack
of struggle, strife,
a cancelling or a recess
from concerns.
Something troublesome
subtracted, living
minus what gets
in our way.
That’s a shallow breath
to take when appreciation
calls for a deep inhale,
plus. The descent
to where full life waits
to speak of beauty’s truth
seen and heard and felt
when nothing else
is asking to be done.
When all peace wants
is us to sit in silence
open up the book
we’re writing every moment,
read the everything
that’s in the room.
It could appear
there’s nothing here to see
Not much happening.
But that suggests a certain
failure to perceive
the moving current
of an image
and a book.
There’s a story
waiting to be titled,
action somewhere below
the surface in the scene,
pulsing through the paint.
What was the intent?
Portrait or still life?
The artist might say
yes—exactly
what I meant.
A portrait of what flows
through a still life.
A stirring tale of nothing
going on but words
on a page, sunflowers
shining in a vase.
As you wish.
Peace is often pictured
as an absence, the lack
of struggle, strife,
a cancelling or a recess
from concerns.
Something troublesome
subtracted, living
minus what gets
in our way.
That’s a shallow breath
to take when appreciation
calls for a deep inhale,
plus. The descent
to where full life waits
to speak of beauty’s truth
seen and heard and felt
when nothing else
is asking to be done.
When all peace wants
is us to sit in silence
open up the book
we’re writing every moment,
read the everything
that’s in the room.