If I could Paint Anything

If time and talent were no object and I could paint anything

I would paint:

that woman Roberta from Wadmalaw Island singing
with her whole heart and deep melodious voice
the truths of love, sweat, and tears
of an Old Negro Spiritual

I would paint:

Don Manuel, ese jibarito querido, 
bent over and blinking through perspiration
as he firmed the brown humid earth of a new planting
between his fingers
then clipped the tip of a leaf

I would paint:

the semi sweet smile of my new born baby
as she looked into my eyes
as she blinked away the sunshine
for the first time,

I would paint:

the bugle blowing as I cried
as the wind battered the flag draped coffin
of my daddy as he settled into rest
after a year long battle,

I would paint:

Three rocky sisters
seated on blue beach chairs
as they visited their parents bringing
them a gift of fragile harmony.

I would not paint:

the abstract complicated Picasso,
nor the genius of Monet,
nor the things I know nothing about
nor the lofty ideas that rise to the heights.

No, I would paint the incredible
things that we can only hold in our hands
for nano seconds but
that stay in our hearts forever.

That is what I would paint if time and talent were no object.

By: Elba Vazquez