Camille Pissarro

Tiny brushstrokes
           tiny blobs of paint
not a person
           not a horse
nor a dog
           but the idea
of that thing
           suggested in oils

no single detail making any sense
            on its own
but taken as a whole
           instantly recognisible
genius on the end
           of a sable brush
coloured pigments
           mixed with linseed oil
applied on canvas
           breathing eternal life
into the inhabitants
           of Upper Norwood

John Lyons