She Paints: 1988_WaterColor3_Clover by Carol Hershey

8/22/08_1988_WaterColor3_Clover_ Poem by Betina Hershey Russo

How long did she spend
Picking out just the right blend
Of this aquamarine blue
And that cademin red
And oh, the canary yellow
Mixed with the pure white.
I can see her stirring the brush
In the paint-stained glass mug
And dabbing at the paper towel
Before the next dip into this pure blue
And that pure yellow and a little white
For such a translucent green
Floating over the layer
Of yesterday's pale blue.
How many times did she back away,
Gazing, puzzling?
And how many times did she examine,
Nose almost touching, peering
At this texture here, and that detail there
With a determination to paint it all over
If it didn't say just the right Ah-Ha.
And did she wonder at
How the colors changed many times,
While the shape of the clover remained?