Monday, December 7, 2009

Poetry: Paint as a Commitment

Paint as a Commitment

You have lived here six short months
and the old house with walls freshly
knocked through,
has begun to feel like home,

pictures and candles in their place,
your old carpets adding softness,
a place to eat and entertain,
but today

you spent the day moving,
taking down each book and
carefullying snaking the shelves
through other rooms,

rolling up the rugs,
straining to move tables,
sofas, and desks,
piling them up warehouse-like,

a catalog of life,
each item not a thing, but a story,
emptying the rooms,
preparing to paint.

And now the room is empty,
waiting for your hand to begin,
to carefully patch each plaster crack,
smoothing the surface, cleaning

the dirt of another time and person,
preparing for a color,
not the sterile white that has been your choice
for far too long,

but a gold, the color of warmth, soft
and inviting, a color that reflects
your new life, where paint is more than paint,
but a commitment.

=============

Yes dear readers, I am beginning to paint my old (but new to me) Vermont home. Living room/dining room/library first. That's what the picture is of, sans all the things that lived there until yesterday.

Below is what it looked like until then. We'll see how it turns out!

Tom

6 comments:

Shadow said...

oh do show the end result...

FireLight said...

I think you are going to love a shade of gold....one of the most beautiful rooms in a dear friend's home was done in a warm gold.

Leonora said...

Have fun! Paint is the most wonderful way to transform a room with practically no expenditure except sweat equity! I'm feeling inspired to begin a painting project of my own now...

gingerhillery@mac.com said...

I think of how my husband has lovingly allowed me to paint our rooms green like the moss and red like the old books and gold like an autumn leaf and do agree that paint is a commitment! (and blue like an egg and tan like the sand, and....)

Unknown said...

Hi Tom,

No slacking now; not long before those decorations have to be up! And I'm sure it will be elegant.

Lisa Ursu said...

"waiting for your hand to begin,
to carefully patch each plaster crack,"
I love that!
What a piece of creative brillance this post is. I do love the room as is, especially the rug. The after intrigues me.
Thanks for sharing.