Painting

Take a year to finish a painting. He finished building that swing. Dismiss your own fear. Is that a werewolf he can hear? Take a year to paint a portrait. He wonders if he captured every trait. Lime green hair, and orange tonsils. Swirling paint around in this cup full. Paint a landscape as well. But then his wrist might start to swell. Did a spider bite his arm? Or maybe it’s his obsession causing him harm. I took a painting out of my garage one summer. It was covered in werewolf fur. A landscape that doesn’t exist. Which my grandfather couldn’t resist… I gave that painting a new frame. It was both haunting and tame. Opening that old frame, something fell. A portrait of a mysterious person made me yell. I remember that person from my dreams. As impossible as it seems… I guess my grandfather knew of mysterious people. And that landscape is starting to look more real. I took the old swing down that summer. Then I had a dream which haunts me forever. If that werwolf could manage to look me in the eye… There’s nothing left but a swing to untie.