Coloured by Mischief

(Inspired by FINE WEATHER FOR MY 50 x 30 BY JAMES GUTHRIE)

It dawns a perfect morning in Cockburnspath:

a sunless September sky of creamy porridge

poured on patchwork fields of nettle green and chaffinch brown.

A trusty umbrella deflects the glare of bleached clouds.

My dark suit and cap, like an upturned exclamation mark,

inkblots the autumn landscape.

I prepare my palette of stone-dyke greys and breadbasket browns,

half-watched by a Highland bull, thick-spread

in a coat of butter-soft cinnamon.

As time watches, fingertips of breeze ruffle the trees,

then a soft Scottish smir turns to stair-rods.

Canvas, paints and easel are hastily strapped on my back.

Startled by this curious, canvas-armoured armadillo,

the bull stares me out, full of bramble-eyed irritation and contempt,

regarding me like a toro bravo his matador.

I stumble home, a wet-footed rivulet

trailing over muddy stone and stile

to a buttermilk farmhouse framed by robin-red rowans.

That evening, in copper-beech firelight, my mind drifts backwards.

An eccentric moment dances mischievously

from memory to paper:

Fine weather for my 50 x 30!