GOVERT FLINCK'S DAY
(1615-1660)

Scarcely a light
in December's short day
the snow flakes
melt as if they
were quarreling shadows
which melt by chance
unrecognized by the lake
yet here I sit by my desk
near winter woods
watching a black bird
on the branches
in my seashore neighborhood
trying to think
of the Dutch master
Govert Flinck
who painted "Obelisk
with a Landscape"
which as a young poet
always carrying words
from my hallways
would trek on Sundays
the Gardener museum
in Boston
to listen to a concert
or enjoy the art
with my Aunt Sarah
until some of it was stolen
in a heist in 1990
along with a couple
of good Rembrandt paintings
who was his contemporary
in his zeitgeist.