why i can’t always paint
i have completed
my mountain hermitage
there was to have been a waterfall
outside my window
but my brush faltered
each sheer plunge of water
refuses to flow
rather hangs
in mid-air
resembling chunks of concrete
it must be my american influence
the top of the painting
seems endless
white space
holding on
to pins of air
a wall of silence
so immense
it covers the sky
Alan Chong Lau
Alan Chong Lau is a poet and painter exhibiting his art locally at ArtXchange Gallery in Seattle, Washington.
