I knew all was readiness…
my palette daubed
with slight toxins…malachite
for glass green waves
below zinc white’s smother foam…
a bead of lapis lazuli,
all primed for sable brushes
there rowed upon my easel.
I knew all was centeredness,
my thumb and fingers balancing
the board against my forearm,
my axis perpendicular
to silhouette the shore.
And yet I lacked perspective.
I knew van Gogh had used a frame…
a strong wood perspective frame
with diagonal perpendicular horizontal wire
to line orient his vision.
And I estimated distance
of sailboats…on far deep water…
with gray storm clouds brewing
and craved his guidance source.
Bonnie Marshall
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