"The Sky Remains"

Acrylic on canvas 30"x 24" museum wrap

"Through the empty branches, the sky remains/It is what you have." Rilke The Book of Hours

I've been doing a great deal of thinking about sunsets. Probably because of the loss of one of my closest friends. I have a sense my awareness of this daily ending is in some deeper way, helping me to sort through my sorrow over her passing.

We have all had those days when we simply want to get through it. It may have started off well enough, but at some point, we are ready for it to be done. I wonder if dying is like that?

I think the thing here for me is simply this: when the day gathers itself up across the sky I find a bit of hopefulness there. Sure the day is over, with whatever happened, but it's over. Watching the sky torch out reminds me that much of what didn't work can be left to go with it. Those things which will linger (and there always are those rascals, right?) at least you will have a respite from before tackling them again in the light of day.

Surely, there is a Baptist sermon and an altar call in that last paragraph, but beyond that I am thinking about renewal and those lines 'the sky remains/it is what you have. Maybe woven in there somehow is sustenance to keep on going. Maybe by witnessing the rhythms of the sky and world around us, we gain perspective. How much less in comparison are we to all of this? How can what we strive with be any greater? Don't know. But I am thinking about it.