J.W. Turner, Haiku and a Walk by the Firth of Clyde

Yesterday was a beautiful day. We enjoyed the hospitality of
Ardarden Walled Garden Tearoom, and then went further down and walked along the
Firth of Clyde for a while. The hazy Spring sunshine, crisply cold with enough
of a breeze to need the thick fleece, and the play of light on water and mist,
softened all the definitions of the further away scenery. The result was
magical. Tried to capture some of the beauty and mystery in a few Haiku – but
it's a bit like trying to describe a Turner seascape – using only one half of a
keyboard! No substitute for seeing it. Going to have a special day in Edinburgh soon to see the new Turner and Italy Exhibition. In preparation I'm going to
read some John Ruskin whose prose is as luminously vague and suggestively beautiful
to read as the best of Turner's work (which he championed) is to behold.

Walking by the Firth of Clyde

Eye-watering light

forms colour, shape and shadow;

misty, mystic Clyde.

…..

Yellow, white, ecru;

watercolour masterpiece,

nature paints Turner.

…..

Horizonless view,

palimpsest of filtered rays,

coalesce in gold.

…..

In cold light of March,

promised warmth behind the haze,

nature's optimism.

…..

Opaque crystal glass

charged with amber liquid.

God toasts early Spring.