Willem de Kooning ordered a batch
Of custom-made long-handled
Paint brushes
Three and a half feet in length
Or just shy of that dimension
All natural bristles
A tilted brush head permitted
Full embrace with the canvas
As Bill gestured
He could watch from that distance
His painting grow before him
Under his brush
Dave, my friend and fellow painter
Has a de Kooning brush, one he’s
Never used
For Dave it has been an intimidating
Curiosity. Besides he just doesn’t
Paint that way
I do. Dave knows of my long brushes
And drawing sticks
So made me an offer
Would I accept the gift of a
Long-handled paint brush
Made for de Kooning?
Dave has seen my six foot
Long sticks with a brush
Duct-taped
To one end and a ball
Of rag wrapping
The opposite pole
What he doesn’t know
Is how I do not clean
My brushes
I use them and abuse
Them until they
Become mute
They become hoarse
From painting
So loudly
In my hands deKooning’s
Brush could not avoid
That same fate
No disrespect is meant
A paint brush is for me
A lit fuse
Sandy Kinnee
Colorado Springs
December 2, 2018
