Word Pictures

A poem by Flora Kangas Manninen, my grandmother.

WORD PICTURES

When I these lovely vistas see

I wish I might an artist be

And paint in colors true and bold

That others too might them behold.

The pinkish tints of rising sun

That o’er the eastern sky have run

The hazy mists of earliest spring

And softness of the wax wing’s wing.

The brooding black of storm-flung sky

The flutter of leaves that scurry by

Hot summer sunsets flaming gold

And drifts of winter, white and cold.

Meadows blue with violets sweet

When dewy grass is wet on feet

Of gentle cattle grazing there

In calm contentment, oh, so rare.

I’d paint the fluffy clouds on high

And boats that near at anchor lie

The waves when snowy caps they wear

As ‘cross the angry lake they tear.

Mayhap my pictures then would show

How hearts may through beauty grow

And find both peace and happiness

In simple little things like these.

💗