I'll wait until you're gone

i can't paint you, she told me.

i can paint

still life,

apples

and oranges, peaches

in a white bowl.

i can easily go to my

canvas

and paint

a wheat field.

i can paint

those departed

from this world,

parents and lovers, 

dear friends

now gone.

i can paint the sky, the mountains,

the ocean as

it rolls in.

i can paint anything you ask

me to.

but not you,

not yet.

you're still here.

i'll wait until you're gone.