NaPoWriMo 10/30 - Untitled (After a Photograph by Michael Leckie)

Photograph by Michael Leckie

Untitled(After a Photograph by Michael Leckie)
Hard to saywhether he holds it upor it holds him
The door framedefiningMatisse cut outMondrian stripeinvitation
You may come inhe may not step across the line to greet youbut Mona Lisa eyeshint at welcomeinvite your interruption
He is workingafter alldust of saw or kneadon broken-in bootsthe apron with its tracesof wiped handsand the hat –for panache or warmthor both
he might not offer you teabut he wouldn’t mind hearing a storyworking with the hands leaves the brain free to roam
There is weather hereseasons go by and bytaking their toll on the bluesChristmas red rebirthsthe inevitable sagging into greythe sloping of shoulders
We fall for flourishesforgetting the lost art of simplecan be the marriageof useful and beautifulthat enough can be a servanttoo much a master
The organic compound ofpurpose structure humanwill not yield the secret ofwhich holds up which;accidents of timelight on colourcannot be separated like white from yoke; experience cannot be washed from hands;the face will tell the story of yearsas surely as the rain-worn paint.

10/30NaPoWriMo2014

Besides Matisse and Mondrian, I kept being put in mind of  Gaughin's Ia Orana Maria at the Met. The classical structure of this piece – the use of colour to lead the eye was somehow embedded in the photograph.

Prompt for Day 11:
The Name I Call Myself

Yay - we're ⅓ through!