Artifacts

2019

24" X 20"

Oil on Panel

Available at The Granary Gallery

If you peer in closely
through the blue doorway
and into the pantry
you will see shelves
lined with artifacts.

Treasures unearthed
and discovered behind walls
an old clay pipe
horseshoes and coins
bottles and bricks.

What you won’t see
that I can
is Katie in there
studying them.

She was the navigator
on the day I first saw this place.

I mentioned before
about our wild adventure
on the bouncy bouncy dirt lane
as we searched the wilderness
getting closer and closer
to the isolated homestead.

At one point…
I think it was seeing giant spider webs
glistening with heavy dew
under that medieval forest
of low branching oaks…
at a moment
when we were particularly lost
that we both looked at each other
to gauge the fear factor.

Yep it was creepy.

But, as ever with Katie,
so much fun.

Her young strong legs
climbed the stairs before me
to test if they would hold
and her brave confident self
looked behind
the darkest of dusty corners
to spare my heart.

She’s the one
who opened the lid
on the oval roaster
and found the shells
then played apprentice
moving them in and out
of the crawling sunlight.

It’s going to be harder now
to coordinate our Ted Trips
because she went
and grew all up and graduated
and is going to step right on out
into the big wide world any day now
all by herself.

I have a feeling though
that there will be a few more adventures
a painted cormorant now and then
a little bit of knitting together
and listening
and the occasional snapshot
of that dimply smile.

Look out world
here comes a damned fine human

…love ya kiddo.