On A Drawing By Charles Tomlinson

By a swath of inks the eye thinks it sees solidities which alter with the watercolor way his brush washes its dye in distance, though even this finds a faraway fixed not by the surveyor's plumb but by the action of the thumb delaying all the fingers meant to draw out of the paper, splashed dry. The clean grain catches what it should retain if enough pressure pleasure is applied to the stain to lie. Note: Tomlinson is not only a distinctive poet, but a visual artist of repute. His graphics grace the covers of many of his books. This Homage attempts to imitate his verse style, or rather one of his verse styles.