Kristopher Miller
Guest Writer
Facebook post of making Pappas
Under watchful Mamita loving eyes
Shows Al Preciado’s gentler side
Decades of family love
Whole heartedly they guide
To be the best that he can be
When others needed gentle nudges
To steer them on their ways
Al gave them all they needed
He would always stay
Rest assured that lesson taught
Left no questions unanswered
Folding tin foil in exotic shapes
At first seemed so absurd
Then the finished products form
Elaborate shapes sublime
To capture essences of life
Shapes frozen into time
Vivid colors burst onto canvas
Blasting senses so we see
Perceptions bright and dark
Maybe that is what birds see
Splashes, slashes, bursts of trees
Or inner torment seldom shared
Exposing dread indeed
What fears mere mortals fantasize
Of good, of bad, I crave, I had
Dream lovers
Ballerinas
Brightest days
Darkest nights
Birds a-flitter
Landscapes that please
Thank you Al
For all of this
For in your paintings
You captured Bliss
Islands in the sky
Underworld abyss
Branches and twigs
Of tortured trees
Random flowers attacked by bees
Brush it, smear it, let it run
Its not a job
Lets have some fun
To quickly sketch
Charcoal zorro like speed
Capture formless detail
Fill in details only as you need
Capture concepts
With predominate hue
Light versus darkness
Images infuse
Flash it brightly
Subtle-y some hues
Always leave some
Paint on your shoes
So strangers can ask
“Are You an Artist?”
Laughing you answer
How did you know that?
Waving multicolored hands
That have brightened our worlds
And opened our minds
Passing down loving
That came through the hands
Of your sweet loving mother
Your being she formed
One of the great ones
Who splattered our lives
With splashes of color
Shining tinfoil statues on stands
Who passed down the loving
Through his gentle hands
The world is a better place
Shaped and stained
By your hands
So share your love brightly
Pass on the caresses
That Moms do the best