Robert Arthur Lewis: "The Painter"

I put color on walls, then leave

and let light tell its own story. Strange

how our vague ambitions lead

to such particular situations, like these white overalls

with the brass clips, this collection of brushes

and buckets. It was never my intention

to join the order of caps and rags,

but here I am.

One summer evening I knelt in a shed

cleaning brushes. Light streamed through the splintered boards

and I was there to see how it landed, how it made

the shovel and the rake and the dirt floor

all count. I stopped and listened. Wind

swept dry grass against the dryer siding.

The sound was as close as my own breath

and my kneeling went deeper into thankfulness

for this strange and lonely craft

which makes me love so many things.

"The Painter" by Robert Arthur Lewis. Published by The Atlanta Review, Spring/Summer 2005. © Robert Arthur Lewis.

Photography credit: Untitled image by Daniel Kanter, found at this link (originally color).