Monet And The Mantis Shrimp Poem by Lois Read

Monet was onto something big
his eye for color almost as keen
as the mantis shrimp,
tomatapod with extra-special vision,
he probed how light
exploded haystacks, cathedrals
into dancing waves
of energy, colors pulsing
dissolving even stone.
Thus cousin to the physicist
he sailed the seas of wonder
on waves of light
inside and outside
the visible spectrum
his brush pushing, probing
the mysteries
underlying matter.
I've heard it said in later years
his eyesight failed
affecting clarity of form.
Suppose instead as his
hyperspectral vision expanded
he was drawn
to dissect the obvious
his eye more and more acute
discerning and describing
vibrations visible
mainly to to the mantis shrimp.