Take My Breath Away

She lies on her back, closed eyes,
dreaming a pretty dream.
wind whispering over her face,
a caress.

The pillow neath her cheek an extension of thought
The smells of paint an embrace.
She breathes deeply, feeling the air, the weight of it.
Wanting to feel something new.

Oil paint mixes, forms shape in her mind
Head on the pillow so heavy from shame
Arms outstretched in supplication,
A plea for the end.

Colorful images fade into a determination
The dreams becoming one definite nightmare,
One she longs for.
A picture is painted in her mind,
Careful strokes,
Don't rush it.

Really see the form,
A still figure, lying in a casket as the sun slowly sets over the silent horizon,
Hands carefully folded over the immobile chest.
Mostly grays, blacks, whites,
A streak of orange that is almost red, shooting through the sky
Blended with even more white.
The body is in shadow, the world around it illuminated by the failing sun.

She is in a corner
lying on her back,
Dreaming, hoping, planning
Inhaling slowly through her nose, counting breaths,
folded arms, to practice.

Imagining a single red rose,
No thoughts of the ugliness contained in this one last dream.
Just keep focusing on the poetry.
Under my fingers the picture will take shape,
As it forms, it will take your breath away.
My grace with paint.

Squeezing my eyes shut,
Hugging my last dream to me,
Floating away, to dissipate in the breeze
Lost in a swirl of paint.