My Great Uncle’s Art Studio
The light in that grand cathedral
of childhood came streaming
through floor-to-ceiling windows
and adhered in sparkling fashion
to the lenses of magnifying glasses
dangling from above, each one
suspended strategically for detail work
before a large, unfinished painting
perched on an easel in the middle
of the room. Near at hand, brushes
beckoned amidst a loose assortment
of misshapen oil color tubes, while
small-scale Masonite studies mingled
with fully realized, framed canvases
and a makeshift magic lantern sat
draped in shadow by the wall, ready
to project images for tracing, which
I guess is what I’m doing now, just
with words, not pencil, the scene
illuminated anew before me as
the memory of it comes beaming
back across the years, straight into
this crowded workspace of my own,
the one up here in my head.
First published in The Main Street Rag, Vol. 29, No. 1, Winter 2024
