Near Middlebury 2003
acrylic/canvas
36" x 60"

A Memory of Mountains 

Near Middlebury, where I paint, fields and pastures loll westward.

The lake in the distance shimmers below granite cliffs.

A stand of trees draws a line.

A stone wall crosses — interrupts, but briefly.

 The landscape is its own being and cannot be other.

This patchwork of cornrows and lush, verdant grasses,

rich umber furrows where stalks will sprout,

eases the eyes to the deep, ultramarine.

That is Champlain.  

Beyond, near Port Henry, mountains rise from the waters. 

Not gently, as if to ease your soul to a higher plane.

Severely, demanding to know why you approach.

Once you’ve explored and exhausted all answers,

given yourself to the simple majesty that once, millions of years ago,

was the verge of the ocean,

you will let go of that to which we cling,

those feeble attempts to dominate the indomitable. 

Reinterpretation of

Near Middlebury 2010

India Ink/ Canson 20 x 24

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