Saturday, March 9, 2013

art imitating life (to be)

I have an idea of what I want to do when I retire.
When I am an old lady I will visit art galleries all over the world (they must have a cafe that sells good coffee and exquisite cake). I will sit in front of the paintings and imagine the stories held within them.
I think this is pretty cool plan and I am already excited about it (even more exciting are the decades of life to fill between now and then).
Anyway I told a friend of mine my idea and he wrote this amazing poem inspired by it. I am so thrilled and delighted to have a poem written about my future self (how cool is that!) and he has very kindly let me share it with you here:

'The Perfect Retirement' by Niall O'Strich


Strange no doubt
But a mesmerising way
To spend her day
Sipping delicious coffee
In a fine cafe
Staring intently at paintings
It's what she'd always done
So nothing new
... When it came to
Imagining what each artist went through
A painting of the countryside
The little girl in the foreground
Playing on a slide
While her blonde curls sway
It makes her think
Is this the artist's child
Or maybe
A distant memory of her own
When she got to enjoy a summer's day
All of this gave her
Peace of mind
One thing's for sure
Whenever she did this
The day wasn't a pursuit so blind
So it was only ever her
Her coffee
& more often than not a creamed cake on the side
Although the odd time she did take a break
To appreciate the evening tide
Through the window
It was her way of keeping calm
Of forgetting her worries
Really there weren't any
She had three incredible kids
& neither was she short a penny


Niall has lots more of his work here do stop by and take a look, have a wee read. His work is fantastic and a good mix of beautiful, funny, observant and completely heart breaking. He has struggled with a rare form of OCD for pretty much all of his life and many of his poems reflect that journey. He is inspiring and a very dear friend of mine.
Thank you Mr O'Strich x

2 comments:

  1. What a great poem, can almost imagine myself there with you enjoying the art, dreaming and reminiscing and of course, drinking fine coffee and eating yummy cakes :) x

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    1. hi Lou, I'll be looking out for you in galleries then :-) x

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