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Sestina Painting Lesson

1          First you take a dampened sponge
2          Then put it to paper and wipe it around
3          'Til the page is wet, but not too moist.
4          With the paper laid flat, select a broad brush
5          And fill it with paint. Any color will do
6          But we'll start with blue and paint the sky.

6          With grand strokes we transform paper to sky
1          And as clouds bleed to earth we grab a sponge
5          To contain its flow so that now we can do
2          The horizon and foreground. Look around
4          And notice the lighting in trees and brush,
3          Shadows deepening, dark and moist.

3          Is it after a rain that it's wet and moist?
6          Or, morning dew from laden sky?
4          Let's make it early and take our brush
1          To the verdant foreground. With color and sponge
2          We'll now shape some trees by tamping around
5          Before we decide what next to do.

5          After giving it thought I think what we'll do
3          Is add lovers. Choose a small brush that's moist,
2          Not a flat this time, but a sable that's round,
6          And paint our lovers under morning sky
1          Walking a country lane. With your sponge,
4          Dapple the grasses, fields and brush.

4          Add a hurried creek with a bluish brush
5          Full of secrets. We know we cannot undo
1          The mysteries we paint. Even our sponge
3          Cannot wipe away, no matter how moist,
6          The image we paint of earth and sky
2          As light and shadow keep moving around.

2          As shadows shift and move around,
4          The changing light alters moods in our brush.
6          Our lovers take shelter from a stormy sky,
5          Our paints grow darker as we still try to do
3          The vision of morning, fresh and moist,
1          As we soaked up its beauty like a new sponge.

2/5       Let's gather around, I think we'll do
4/3       This painting again with brush not so moist
6/1       From falling sky filling paint and sponge.



©1987 Thomas A. Ekkens

Above artwork: Brushes