EVERYTHING HAS ITS STORY

A Northern Landscape. Pencil Sketch 2021

 Everything has its story……

The painting on the wall of our den,

a watercolour, 

purchased years ago,

a story…. with its own story.

There’s a name displayed,

Robert Patterson, and

a date when made, 

1989. 

Bob was our friend,

gone now,

not allowed to fade,

as many artists do.

No,

Bob,

although aging, 

and reclusive in his ways,

was not allowed to grow older,

be forgotten, and

...................simply fade away.

No, 

as it was,

perhaps,

supposed to be,

the Fates would have their day,

and hasten his going away.

Already suffering….

like Humpty Dumpty,

of nursery rhyme fame,

he had a fall,

broke his head, and

no amount of effort by….

“all the king's horses and all the king's men”,

…………..could put Bob back together again.

And so the story was supposed to end, but

Bob’s story lingers,

hidden,

in layers of pigment painted on paper,

a painting hanging on our wall, 

a story waiting to be told…..

A teacher, 

talent he shared, but 

bohemian by nature,

Bob shunned success,

solitude his quest, 

he fled north,

where his spirit soared.

He wandered the lakes, 

and the forests alone, 

made sketches…. then paintings, 

to share what he’d seen.

The painting,

the one on our wall,

a quiet scene,

a northern landscape,

spruce trees, an island, and

a single Common Loon,

a wilderness preserved,

Bob’s legacy shared,

a story now told.