Chiara and Tree
2004-06
Oil on linen
44-1/2 x 41-1/2 inches
Private Collection


There was a day
last year
when I looked out
to the Apricot tree.

What I saw was endless possibility.

I painted Chiara there.

In full bloom
year after year,
your fruits spilling over.
She looked like you,
I did not know why.

This painting fell with you that day,
the trees lifeline
etched
into the center of its trunk.

The trees center has
closed up now,
taken you in.

A Grandfather tree,
all parts from one core,
only two left here now.

I saw you,
you under that tree
in your box of cherry wood.

Looking up to the sky,
days gone by,
days gone by.

I look out now,
you bare no fruits this year.

The time is over,
passed now.
It is Chiara I paint,
only now
she waves goodbye.