Henri Matisse

The hall filled with cut-outs  
birds and beasts and flowers  
spread in cheery profusion  
on walls of purest white.  
Best of all the ladies  
articulate limbs, lithe and blue  
understated beauties  
cast in scissor strokes  
framed in plainest wood and glass,  
silent on the wall  
speaking for themselves.  
Four friends with leather heels  
creep between the frames,  
sharing delight . . . . . silent forms,  
I agreed on the hard wood bench.  
had not been for many weeks,  
too much trivia had concerned my days.  
I drove in sun and cloud,  
half an hour of lunchtime traffic,  
Relaxing carrot cake and coffee  
paid final homage to the silhouettes,  
strolled the other halls, refreshed,   
to the turmoil of the street  
lost in the tangle of the car.