Pierre-Auguste Renoir

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BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

#1 Post by BobBradshaw » 25 Aug 2021, 08:35

V2:

Pierre-Auguste Renoir


Fame had just moved in, like a stray dog,
when Renoir’s health began to fail,

rheumatoid arthritis crippling his hands
till they curled like the claws
of a bird gripping a thin branch.

A brush's handle pushed
into his closed palm, he leaned forward
from his wheelchair,
his brush poised
like a hummingbird
about to dart off into bright foliage.

He jabbed at the canvas,
sometimes holding the brush by two hands.

He became as frail as a lover’s note
held just beyond a flame’s reach.

Just ninety pounds, he beamed,
squinting at his Bather,

the darkness kept away
by her lush curves, her skin pinks and whites
like a Japanese flowering plum’s
ravished with light.



V1:

Pierre-Auguste Renoir


Fame had just moved in, like a stray dog,
when Renoir’s health began to fail,
rheumatoid arthritis crippling him.

Eventually his hands curled like the claws
of a bird gripping a thin branch.

A brush's handle pushed
into his closed palm, he leaned forward
from his wheelchair,
his brush poised
like a hummingbird
about to dart off into bright foliage.

He jabbed at the canvas,
sometimes holding the brush by two hands.

He became as frail as a lover’s note
held just beyond a flame’s reach

yet the world like his legs
could be ignored.

At ninety pounds,
he beamed, squinting
at his Bather as if through a keyhole,

the deepening dusk kept away
by her lush curves, her skin pinks and whites
like a Japanese flowering plum’s
ravished with light.

FranktheFrank
Posts: 1983
Joined: 02 Mar 2016, 18:07
Location: Between the mountains and the sea

Re: Pierre-Auguste Renoir

#2 Post by FranktheFrank » 14 Sep 2021, 11:47

I've been meaning to comment on this very fine poem, sorry it took so long.
Written in August, time flies.
I think you capture the quietness of this artist's work.

BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Re: Pierre-Auguste Renoir

#3 Post by BobBradshaw » 16 Sep 2021, 07:56

Thanks for the good words, Frank.

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