Albert Ahearn Poet Verse

Poet Versus Painter

Kaleidoscopic leaf cover
shimmers in the September sun
casting shadowy and sunlit
shifting pools of darkness and light
on a multicolored graveyard.
Sweet decaying scents permeate
the early autumn environs
while yellow oxeye sunflowers
sway to an autumnal zephyr
that whispers enchanting verses
softly throughout the trees.
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Never could a master artist
paint like a poet paints with words.
What subtle hues could he employ
to capture a whispering wind,
the sweetness of decaying leaves,
inconsistencies of shadows?
These intangibles are captured
with colors of imagery 
that are discriminately mixed
and depicted where the painter
ruefully and completely fails,
affixed to inanimateness
whereas, the poet pens movement
and complexion into his work.

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Rukhsana Afridi January 14, 2024 at 7:54 AM A nice comparison between poet and painter. This is so well-written :)

Albert Ahearn September 15, 2012 at 10:59 AM Please do not interpret this work as an affront to the Arts. My wife and I are current members of the Philadelphia Museum Of Art and we too recently viewed the works of Renoir and others. All I was trying to convey is how poetry can animate the true essence of a still-life. In this respect painting fails to express the intangibles that are undoubtedly going on as the artist paints ( wind, shimmering leaves, etc.) 9psh

Andrea Dietrich September 15, 2012 at 9:52 AM Very interesting. you don't too often see people extolling writing over a painting when it comes to description, but not being a painter, I like to agree with you. Words can bring a greater depth to things that mere paint cannot show.

Ilene Bauer September 15, 2012 at 8:43 AM i don't know if i agree with you (after recently visiting some monets and van goghs), but you've done a fabulous job of painting some gorgeous images with your words here. a beautiful poem!