Happiness by Raymond Carver

So early it's still almost dark out
I'm near the window with coffee
and the usual early morning stuff
that passes for thought
........
..Such beauty that for a minute
death and ambition, even love
doesn't enter into this

Happiness it comes on
Unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really
Any early morning talk about it

 abbreviated from Happiness published in All of Us, Tess Gallagher 1998

Spring sunlight in the studio

Going to the studio is now like inhabiting my head. All those images that I thought were worth preserving, or that I wanted to understand. That stack of pictures is a timeline of my passions

Watercolour and pencil study

Primavera ; sunlight returns like a benediction, hope and colour after a long cold winter

I ticked off the things I could do, being a painter seemed the best use of my time, Yet I still feel shamefaced about the time spent in the studio, as if my life is more justified spent elsewhere.