Farewell, Farewell
Farewell, Farewell
“Farewell” 1961 Philip C. Curtis [oil on panel, Phoenix Art Museum collection]
shouts ring out
from inside the caboose
unseen children calling
she wants to go with them
but wait one more moment she says
waves spiritedly
golden hair tousled by a sweet breeze
farewell farewell
family dear tethered in time
riveted in space
various angles of lean
returning reflected waves
the physics of love
farewell farewell
anonymous sky
bleak land
bright & dark orange & blue
confusing the eye
old gnarled oak tree
anchors the panel
keeps the instant
of illusion alive
is there a future
when comes a fall
does the family awaken
unlock themselves
from frozen angles
give their thin arms respite
trudge back home
flat painting pretending
to be three-dimensional
a sham insert
makes loss less painful
what is reality the philosopher asks
at the subatomic level
the substance of the material world
falls away like a panel
crashing in the forest
leaving only grief to hear
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