Paint-By-Number-Life

the rooster is a 
glorious creation

even a 
paint-by-number
edition 
	is majestic

glossy plumage 
adorns breast
and tail 
mostly	black - 23
    and	green - 18

but adding luster
and elegant pizzazz
are streaks of
	white - 17
	ocre - 9
	turquoise - 12


each morning 
I sit 
morning sun
first cup of coffee
calendar cleared

with ZERO 
creative effort
he comes alive

	vibrant 
	cock-sure

born of brush
dabs of paint
patience
the gift of leisure

 
I contemplate
a paint-by-number LIFE

would grief,
be only one shade
	   of sorrow,
contained by its 
singular number?

perhaps rage,
scarlet spatters
merely highlights, 
much needed
no harm done

and of course yellow,
so much yellow
all the shades
		                                 for 
daffodils, sunshine, song birds
#2 pencils, smiley face buttons
new shoes, dandelions, a 
farmhouse kitchen door 



a paint-by-number life
edged in certainty
no going out of the lines
no guessing, or wondering,
or not knowing what comes next


I suppose it would be costly
a sell-your-soul
kind-of-arrangement
	(the rooster was $25, which I thought a bit steep)


and then,
of course,
the bigger question…



			Who would hold the brush?