Oil on Canvas

[milo]

Oil on Canvas


There is a woman from Moldova
in my Tuesday painting class;
her face the rough of daub and wattle
her hands float smooth like the Danube.


She paints a man in oil on canvas,
an olive great coat and a cap
who rides his stallion off to battle.
Now he’s gone. Now he’s gone.


Charlemagne!
Oh Charlemagne!
Come haunting through the cold church basements,
break the locks, kick down the doors.
Come knock the limpid easel over,
Charlemagne!
Oh Charlemagne!


Don’t wash away with turpentine,
don’t swirl like colors down the drain.