Advice from the Artist

Posted on by Rita Sommers-Flanagan 


As you continue to diminish, 
finish your work with glossy varnish 
to protect against the ravages of too much sun.
Safeguard the subtle shadings
and hoard the necessary joys of passing on.

The river gives you walking sticks and songs.
The land has offered sustenance and stones.
But reality lands hard on brittle bones. 

It’s all too beautiful, 
the sunsets and train wrecks,
the intentional offspring, the adopted ducks,
the bad ideas, the sheep and goats, 
the bombs and tender mercies,
the labyrinths and weeds.
It’s all too beautiful to leave behind.

And Yet.

Graceful decreasing
makes room for increasing.
The Baptist knew 
you can only wash a few
before your hands grow too cold 
to be trusted. Step down, aside, and forward.
The Greater Whole is waiting by the fire.

Come warm yourself. 
The guests are gathering to honor 
all the good you’ve tried to do.

Offer your acceptance speech in lavender
while the evening light plays havoc 
with defiant greens and blues.
In scenes yet to be enacted,
you may not recall your lines
so pin them here and there in red
behind the sofa or underneath the lamp.

16 thoughts on “Advice from the Artist”

    1. Thanks, Carey. Sometimes, I think sadness is the most honest “real.” And yes, I did the paintings, though the first one I found at the dump and added a lot to the original, so I claim it as mine but someone else started it and threw it away…

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  6. Rita. At 82 years of young, you just described my life on the river.

    Thank you. I will include it in my eulogy when the time comes, that is, if I have your permission.

    kaye – the inner tubing river rat

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  9. How did you know I have notes all over the house? Big concepts flow through hour after hour, but tomorrow’s dentist appointment could slip away in a sneeze! I like to think yes, I am diminishing in my effect on the community, in my body, in my energy level; but I am also enlarging my capacity for silence, for appreciation and for loving so many more sentient beings (e.g. calico cat, pansies, random dogs, etc.). Loving your offerings, Star

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