Sunday, March 04, 2012

sketch lies persistence


Posted by Picasa Blackbird drawn from memory without thought
      quickly as it flew down  itself ( from where?)
                  a feather in its tail askew
                         unfinished
                tilts the angle of its head
           smudges etch its trembling bulk
              reflect its short uncertain stay
          deceptively still it waits (for what?)
                         unfinished
                 while its bright eye watches
                                you.

"I prefer drawing to talking," said Le Corbusier. "Drawing is faster and allows less room for lies"

The help-yourself greengrocer by the Opera House has closed. One of the owners persists however. He is selling fruit and vegetables from baskets outside the butcher's shop next door. There is a  of sense of impermanence and  threat. What happened?  "Rates and rent are now £70,000 a year" A lot for a shop without fittings or window, no more than an urban cave. I buy some lemons. "If I am not here next time," says the determined trader, I'll be outside the art shop in Monson Road. And what happens when it rains? He has no stall and there is no room for one.


2 comments:

marja-leena said...

A beautiful drawing, Plutarch!

Sad story about the green-grocer - this seems to be happening everywhere.

CC said...

Love your Blackbird and poem.

We have a Greengrocer here, same story. His family is hanging on, but the city seems
determined to drive them out of business.
This must be the new global market place.... very discouraging.