A Study in Subtlety

© Matthew Word Bain

at first glance
a study in grayscale
yet a second look reveals
a range of subtle color
shadowy degrees
of disregard
or decay

once white
this mildewed
truck now resting
on wheels boasting
the irreproachable
glint of chrome

the rust
on the trailer
in the foreground
subtly softening
its hard angles
with color

flaking paint
on the otherwise
tidy brick of the facade
the sign above the window
the orange on the folding sign
and that dental work on the cornice!

no doubt there is
more relief and contrast
when the sun shines directly
on this little lot of moderate desuetude
but the subtlety of shadow has a way
of imparting its own poetic style