"The Artist"

We began like an artist,observing the scene,   
watching each other from afar.   
Carefully, we began to     
sketch a rough outline   
of things held in common.   
Cautiously, we touched brush to canvas—   
                                    a first dash of red, a gentle blue.   
                           Here a sparkle of green leaves in the sun,   
                                    a glint of mahogany.   
                           Then a slight sliver of silver on black—   
                                    the light of a summer’s moon.   
                            There the dusky grey of   
                                     twilight; the orange splash of   
                                               the rising sun.   
From the first we were   
careful to explore   
each new hue.   
Trying to create,   
with strokes of the brush,   
a life together.   


Copyright 1978 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

I wrote this poem soon after David and I met. We knew, almost from the first, that we'd spend our life together. Often people ask me what's the trick to a long, successful marriage, but I don't have an answer. Love, commitment, friendship, determination, acceptance, compromise, respect--key components to any relationship. I do believe, though, that too many people throw out the canvas after a mistroke of the brush.