swifts  &  s l o w s · a quarterly of crisscrossings

through unseen windows
Sandy Kinnee

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Impressionism and Air Conditioning

Early morning resting my posterior
on a charcoal leather bench
surrounded on four sides
by Degas, Caillebotte, Renoir, Monet.

I am a happily spoiled man
Lucky to be alone
in the Orsay museum
a solid hour in advance of the crowds

Plus I do not have to share
this glorious air conditioning
with anyone except a few guards
who are chatting.

A girl with a sheaf of papers
wanders into the gallery
and I understand that horde
will follow too soon

sucking up what had been mine alone:
the brush strokes, dappled light upon
some canvases gas light and sunlight
through unseen windows on the remainder.

All these paintings illuminated by
spotlights and indirect sunlight
and bathed by controlled humidity
and delicious air conditioning.

I take it all in and smile back at those
haystacks and the Japanese Bridge.

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Sandy Kinnee had for the past five years been exclusively painting fifteen-foot canvases. Unfortunately, his lease to the cavernous studio ended just as Covid-19 struck. Fortunately, he has a more modest studio at home, where he is currently hunkered down; occasionally baking another loaf of sourdough while paint dries on repurposed disks of paper.