TM9477 New England Coastline #16 7×7 oil on paper

I used to think

I used to think paintings were

Just facts and descriptions

(extraordinary descriptions)

Of passing clouds, granite,

The sea, etc

And whether to include gulls

or how many.

But now I see these worlds

Are all abstractions, bits of liquid

Color and equivalents precisely

Mixed and laid down,

Left on their own

To assemble, dissemble,

Or rearrange as needed.

Like us,

Some paintings have long

And confusing lives.