Celebrating Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
Cezanne,
out with his easel near Aix-en-Provence,
painted gravity with a light brush,
coaxing round density out of apples,
the angular geometry of men playing cards,
mountain massiveness pitted against civilized sight.
Sensation is primal language.
As a cure for assumptions,
he smacks eyes with thick stroked paint,
revealing the substantial fundaments,
reducing ‘ought’ to ‘is’
not painting a thing of beauty but a thing.
Matter matters in his mind.
He puts ‘matter’ before us,
offers a bulk of evidence
that matter is miracle enough,
that color, shape, and density
speak volumes to the soul.