the day you stopped
by to tell me
you were leaving
for Japan
I was intrigued
you'd been locked
in the blamed studio
for months on end
and this is all
I see of you
a streak of China Blue
skin shades whiter
than the programmer
neighbor of mine
shades whiter
than normal
than healthy
you would make
the metaphor
of an empty canvas
I found the sight of you
amusing in the utmost
I'll never get
that smudge
of China Blue
angled aesthetically across
your left temple
out of my memory of you

the day you stopped
all communication
with any of us
from your white man's life
was the last intrigue
from the one who paints
nature but sees little of it
now lost in the land
of cheap electronics
I have a comforting
mental picture of you
in one of your paintings
of Japan of course
that I've never seen
China Blue sky
only seen reflected
from your eyes
as you stand
a very Western
white marble statue
on the rooftops of Tokyo

05/24/2003

Posted on 05/25/2003
Copyright © 2025 Lacy D Phillips