The Sculptor

perfect
form
locked
in
stone
~
sculptor
as
liberator

THE SCULPTOR

The Artist (a poem with fishy fish)

 

Koi painting by Aletha Kuschan

 

The Artist (a poem with fishy fish)

What marvellous fishy fish you capture,
he said to the artist, quick tip of the hat

and nod to her grasp of the slippery power
held within the Koi, of paint and pond.

If I could divine the secret of supple
shape and muscle, colour and movement

that you magically display, in the loose
flamboyance of these wild but captive

creatures, mouth open, wanting more
than can ever be obtained in this stale life,

outside the rippled blue of paint reflected,
I would hide it in a locked box,

to keep the magic from evaporating.

 

Koi by Aletha Kuschan

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Dedicated to the artist and blogger Aletha Kuschan (who is slightly obsessed with painting Koi) and the late and great poet gingatao (author of The Puzzle Box) who was a great admirer of Aletha’s work, particularly her ‘fishy fish’.