Savannah Grace

I wrote this poem after spending a day painting one of my favorite savannahs at Prairie Spirit in August 2007. I've not kept count on how many paintings I've done there but the energy still moves me to keep going. The most recent is "North Savannah--Autumn" finished in Oct '08

36" x 48" oil on canvas.

Afternoon sun graces this savannah

warming this pubic mound's verdant vetch grasses

and skeletal stony ridges.

Seasoned oaks shelter her

as she holds them.

Limbs of shade bear the memory of past storms

and stiff brambles testify to cleansing fires.

Butterfly's weightless dance invites me to linger and laugh

at how much beauty I have not seen or felt.

The surround sound symphony of crickets and locusts

erases the memory of time.

Luscious savannah, you birth my longing and untold passions;

nurture my dreams of who I am

and what I can share with others

thanks to you.