The outline of the tree follows the outline of the leaf. I may be repeating this image or confusing it with one recent photograph which showed the shape of the tree in the veins of a leaf.
We, the gardener and I, are discussing, in the context of the prolonged Autumn, the imminence of Winter. "Every week that passes is one less," he says. I know what he means. But the words resonate with meanings beyond my comprehension.
As I walk down Mount Pleasant, I catch sight of an elderly man with a long expressive face caught in a beam of sunlight. I think to myself how much I like the wear and tear on old faces that tells of experience, and a mingling of pain and joy. I exclude my own face from this general preference. I see too much of it when shaving in the morning and know its history too well.
3 comments:
In my art student days, I would love to draw the faces of older people. They are so full of character, of history, and actually easier to draw than, say, a smooth baby's face.
I couldn't decide whether, in your second para, you were talking to another person or to your alter ego. Since there is also a poetic ego, an Archers-loving ego and a corrective ego perhaps your hats should be numbered.
M-l Much easier and more satisfying. Babies may have character but it is supported by little experience.
BB I was talking to a real gardener who works across the road. He has a tendency to philosophise.
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