2010/09/04 Still Cherish Poem by Margaret Alice

I love the tapestry on the wall in my bedroom
staring at it to indulge in fond memories - and
beautiful feelings evoked by the wonder of its
composition, juxtaposing nine dimensions: the
main figure, a woman staring out of a window
looking away from the viewer, the footstool
behind her

The tiled floor in a pattern of cream and blue, the
draped table-cloth and its own still-life of wine and
fruit, the pendulum clock, the painting on the wall
of a boat on the sea against a white cloud, curtains
draping a window framing a scene of a few homes
in a street; all this in one picture, such variety in the
rich colours

Used in tapestries; the fond memories of my mother
embroidering the tapestry when I was small, we were
allowed to pitch in when we had time and add a few
stitches, an honour I relished and still cherish today -
mother complained the green of the woman’s bodice
was a mistake, it does not match the green footstool
with the right hue

Blue sky reflected in blue tiles, blue sea and the woman’s
blue tucked-up skirt, table-cloth and curtains in velvet red
quaint Dutch headdress in yellow matching the petticoat in
yellow also, colours harmonising delightfully; the serene
mystery of the woman staring into the distance with
her back to me is enchanting; while you are
falling asleep

I am still staring, wondering whether an original
Vermeer painting is depicted in this tapestry, I
love the picture so much…