Simon Shaw
A famous light
(Seurat's 'Bathers at Asnières')
Imagine, all these years later, opening
my grandfather's beloved book of art
to find it does not run to colour.
Here, famous light and glowing sun
are related only in tones of grey.
I read "the revelation of light came to Seurat
during hours of sentry duty, staring at the sea"
and think I can picture grandfather in his
wheelchair
sat guard over our endless summer afternoons.
I stare at this poor reproduction and think
I can recall the painting's "swimming haze".
I believe the shimmering light
did "prepare itself for a miracle".
Men will sit on a grassy sloping bank,
staring across the water at people
just out of sight. A small boy might try
to shout hallo through cupped hands
to an old man sitting in a chair on the other side
who stands up and walks towards him into the
water.
my grandfather's beloved book of art
to find it does not run to colour.
Here, famous light and glowing sun
are related only in tones of grey.
I read "the revelation of light came to Seurat
during hours of sentry duty, staring at the sea"
and think I can picture grandfather in his
wheelchair
sat guard over our endless summer afternoons.
I stare at this poor reproduction and think
I can recall the painting's "swimming haze".
I believe the shimmering light
did "prepare itself for a miracle".
Men will sit on a grassy sloping bank,
staring across the water at people
just out of sight. A small boy might try
to shout hallo through cupped hands
to an old man sitting in a chair on the other side
who stands up and walks towards him into the
water.
Simon Shaw lives in South London where he works as a psychiatric nurse.
Page(s) 29
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