The Sunday Painters
by Jesse Keith Butler
The Sunday Painters
by Jesse Keith Butler
You watch the Sunday painters spread
their dollar store supplies out on
the tabletop. A rose is red
to them. A violet’s blue. You yawn.
Has no one told them beauty’s dead?
You’d think that they’re naïve. They see
the world unfiltered, while you’ve been
through years of university
to earn your spot—enclosed within
the white walls of the gallery.
The Sunday painters see a bird
and paint a bird. The prettiness
of life will leave them strangely stirred.
But then they’ll clear their painting mess
and bustle off without a word.
I’ll tell you something. What exists
is manifold, and so much more
than you can close inside your fists.
Peer out beyond your oaken door.
This world is for the hobbyists.Jesse Keith Butler is an Ottawa-based poet who recently won third place in the Kierkegaard Poetry Competition. You can find his poems in a variety of journals, including Arc Poetry, Dappled Things, Blue Unicorn, On Spec, and The Brazen Head. His first book, The Living Law (Darkly Bright Press, 2024), is available wherever books are sold. Learn more at www.jessekeithbutler.ca.
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