This painting was commissioned by me in May of 1995. This painting is based on the poem "Bright Mariner" by Katherine Garrison Chapin. Violet Parkhurst is the California artist who painted it for me. She incorporated me into the picture wearing the dress from the picture that Mike said was his favorite picture of me. This poem was read at Mike's funeral on January 2, 1995. The poem is as follows:
Had I known that you were going
I could have given you
At least, good speed.
But you slipped away so suddenly
Thant I was left standing on the shore
Watching into space.
Not knowing that you would never come back,
Till I felt the waters of the incoming tide
Cold about my heart.
I do not ask for you again,
I know the sea you sail
Does not touch these shores,
I only look for a distant "All hail"
Like the white crest of a wave against the horizon
Or a signal light flashing once,
Far against the Sky.
Sail on, my bright sturdy mariner!
Let out a full sheet to your new winds,
Taste the clear spray of your new waters.
You were made for flight and swiftness,
And eternal freedom.
Nothing shall weigh you down
Or call you back to the warm earth,
Or the shape we knew,
Or the place that held you so very dear.
I have cut the anchor chain that bound you to me,
and the great strength of my love,
And the heavy ache of my loneliness,
Which might bear upon you and hold you back,
I have fashioned into a shining, silken fabric
To the highest, and strongest of your new sails.
Katherine Garrison Chapin
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