Red Rhythms 3

Rufus the watercolour painter Bleeds lashes of paint From his Roman veins He speaks of Florence and its market and monastery Da Vinci in the hills Botticelli in his workshop studio Revealing layers that Vermeer was to uncover "I've got it" he says while holding his paintbrush up to the sky He holds his middle finger eloquently Brides, sons and daughter trail in the wake of his vast history His red hair worshipped by many a muse Stonehenge conquered! Italy, Spain, England The Union Jack and the flag of India Are hung across the road from his studio Inside the languor is deafening His paintings fill each wall And the well-ordered bookshelf with everything from Raphael to Courbet To David Hockney, the flights of Icarus The symbolist's (Botticelli uncovering the pagan Roman archetypes in the 15th Century) To fantasy art.