for Helen Plenert
The artist posts a photo of
her paint-speckled hands after
reloading her acrylic paint palette,
and I enlarge it to look at the colors,
which I cannot accurately name—
periwinkle, bright blue, mustard
that looks as if it could be rising
on dancing stems a winter field,
and, of course, the brush, which must
have hundreds of colors embedded
in its handle. But I focus on Helen’s
speckled palms, evidence of a painter’s
craft, every dash and dot testament
to pigments coming up on canvas or paper,
perhaps like words show up for me—
only with more color in the impressions
rising from formerly mute paper,
feathery brushstrokes that our minds
imagine into images
from those graceful, painterly hands.
Güd wrtr 
This is lovely…one of my favorites. Although many of your poems have become favorites. Thank you for continuing to share.
Thank you, Gloria, for reading and commenting on them. Much appreciated!
As an artist-auther I loved this painterly poem!
Warmly,Shauna Shauna L. Smith, MSW, LMFT3101- I Street Suite #104Sacramento, CA 95816
Thanks, Shauna! Here’s to both your fine art forms!