Eulogy for Paint - After the Terror by Arson Fires of 2016

Who by fire? - A Brush With Flames
Is it permissible to weep for things? 
Because I want to sit shiva
for this house that just
went up in flames.
Mourning a most tender 
box of paint.
Mourning the way 
life devastates.
You would tear your shirt too 
if you had 
ever stepped foot 
into that great forum
of form and color
now torn asunder by
flame and fume
and utter hate.
You would've dazzled at
the way it was scattered 
with a thousand
masterpieces
the way a king 
scatters diamonds
like a child's 
game.
A place where honest 
art was made.
It was a structure 
ever-lit-up and 
upward-faced. 
Like an altar. 
And forgive me if I 
exaggerate 
but a eulogy is in order
today. 
For a great and epic 
loss of paint.
Honored and exalted 
be Thy Name,
O Master Creator
who gives and takes.
Restore the spirit of creativity 
to this painter
that his expression be but 
deepened and wizened
and all the greater 
because of his tragic 
brush 
with flames.
*
Our dear and admired friend Yoram Raanan had his treasure-house of a studio destroyed by terror through arson. 40 years worth of masterpieces - a fortune - lost to flames. Please go here to order a print: http://www.yoramraanan.com/prints 
Or here to donate: https://thechesedfund.com/…/fund-for-renewing-a-lifetime-of…