MATISSE IS THE BEST MATISSE

Summertime in February
Amsterdam's freezing
Sitting in Cape Town overlooking the 12 Apostle Mountains
Paint acrylic landscape
Pink peach sky
Baby blue mountains
Light green ocean
Maybe white crocodile clouds
Paint drying as quick as it's mixed
No time to contemplate Gauguin's "soyez mysterieux"
Creation is always in the moment anyway
And instinct is the wisdom of the gods, she said

Sitting on top of the world
Demystifying my idols
As sirens orbit Oedipus
You're young when you measure time looking forward
You're old when measuring time looking backward
(or is that the other way around ? )
Up on the mountainside
At the end of ocean view drive,
Whatever you need
You need less of it
More is an illusion

The foot steps of yesterday lightly echo
The glow of the present shimmers with optimism
The possibilities of tomorrow ring with curiosity
Moment to moment
Thinking in loud whispers
Talking in disparate dreams
The romantics say
Canvas is like a woman's skin
As I curse the sun for drying paint too fast
Trying to balance all these materials
And not jump off the mountain