Paul fades in the distance.
He walks home from a visit.
Earlier he entered my studio touched.
The second dictionary meaning.
Slightly insane. Crazy.
Affected by something unspoken.
He floated like a cloud.
Heavy with rain.
Too thick to catch a glimpse of the sun.
He poured himself a cup of tea.
He perched on a stool.
Then a workbench.
Then he stood adjacent to my canvas.
He pointed to something.
His finger touched the wet paint.
A combination of white and blues
in the process of becoming sky.
He wiped his fingertip on my blue jeans.
I turned to glare at him.
He stared back daring me.
My brush stroked his nose.
He broke into a grin.
The grin expanded to laughter.
His laugh was infectious.
We laughed for a good long while.
We laughed until our sides ached.
He clapped me on the back.
No rag removed the paint from his nose.
He exited my studio.
He walked up the grassy hill toward home.
copyright © 2021 Kenneth P. Gurney
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