Still Life

There is a still life
here in my head.
Flowers in fruit jars
stand by the bed.
And nothing can trouble our bodies entwined
here as they lie in my mind.

It was a still life
that couldn’t be drawn.
My hand was unsteady
and soon she was gone.
Her spirit was true, but my thoughts were confined
to the pictures that lie in my mind.

Underneath all my affections
there has been a pool of strife.
And so I seek the still reflections
on the surface of my recollections
of some stiller life.

There is a still life
we still could create.
She stops by here sometimes
and watches me paint.
And we laugh at the past and our crazy designs –
the beautiful lies in our minds.
Yes, the beautiful lies in our minds.
The beautiful lies in our minds.

Tam Lin