Life, like an impressionist painting,

Clearly, you see what is there

From a distance.

Moving closer, you are not quite so sure.

The nearer you approach

The more uncertain; themes flow and blend.

Blue is sky… or water, music…

or just a feeling,

A sense of something caught in the moment of leaving.

.

You observe something simple, appealing,

Red, a flower in a field,

Or is it an elaborate dress, a sunset, a heart,

Something final, bending towards an ending?

Sinister? Blood, fear, 

A sense of sounds… you cannot hear.

.

Petals, scattered across water,

A joyful, dancing crowd,

Starlit night,

Cobbled streets, gleaming with rain,

Up close, a jumble of colours,

Incomprehensible –

Leaves you free

To reinterpret what you see.

.

Windhoek, 2022