Angels I Have Heard

This time of year I like to paint angels. As I've had

little studio time, I thought I'd share paintings I've 

done in the past.

I love the idea of angels

as messengers of light that come and go

at warp speed,

easily missed,

rare to catch their drift

of comfort or wisdom.

I like this from Lord Byron:

"The angels were all singing out of tune,

and hoarse with having little to do

except wind up the sun and moon

or curb a runaway star or two."

And this from Emily Dickinson:

"God permits industrious Angels-

Afternoons- to play-"

One of my favorite scenes from a movie

is from 'City of Angels' where the angels are all 

standing around in the balcony of a library, which is a perfect image for me 

as I often sense the presence of angels in books!

Czeslaw Milosz  had this to say "On Angels":

"They say somebody has invented you

but to me this does not sound convincing

for the humans invented themselves as well.

The voice no doubt is valid proof,

as it can only belong to radiant creatures,

weightless and winged (after all, why not?)

girdled with the lightening."

The guardian spirits hover over the child within,

inspiring the artist and the dreamer.

Anne Sexton  said this in "The Fallen Angels":

"They come to my clean 

Sheet of paper and leave a Rorschach blot.

....they want me....

to shove it around till something comes

Clumsy as I am,

I do it.

For I am like them-

both saved and lost,

tumbling down like Humpty Dumpty

off the alphabet."

These days I remind myself to listen to the silence

where angels tread

carrying letters or neon signs,

scattering the fleeting metaphor of winter's courage

to bear it's fate.