Reflecting on Trade Street

For Richard Conn after spending an hour with his painting:
“Reflecting on Trade Street” Landrum, SC

Twinkling trees captured in a winter Twilight Lounge
A blue streak frozen in a tiny town
Framed by the railroad, sign, wires, streetlight
A snapshot of life trapped in man-made brown

Brush strokes balance with each blue reflection
Where ice melts and freezes on the pavement
The brown cage calls forth introspection
I must wonder then, who is making a statement

The browns are beautiful, shades of ocher and gold
That warm softly into purple and indigo hues
How perfect a sepia for worshipping the old
Where the living trees have the Bargain Hut blues.

I’m sending this sonnet because we can’t speak
To give my homage to your vision and technique.