Least Lonely Solitude

Fresh crackers topped with pickled garlic
A stale room
Vermillion and chartreuse leak into cracks in the floorboards
Hiatus of academia taps on the door
Threatens to remove me from the bubble of stoic glee
Last year's obituaries and last week's comics
Hibernate upon the same surface
Weak notes from songwriters without record labels
Warm the icy walls
Tarnished strands from an old brush wisp into the acrylic paint
Add a bit of personality to an old blue dog
Water murks
I step back
Examine my labor
Gaze at my love
My first job as a starving artist