Sir Stanley Spencer, bespectacled painter

Visions more tenderly than we’d dream or dare.

Strokes with his brush leave wrath softer, fainter;

Judgement as fearless as the combing of hair. 

So what a surprise to find yourself seated

Gently brush-stroked by the hands of a child.

Ultimate grace in the task that is meted,

Soothing, removing the sins you compiled. 

Smoothing, unpicking, unknitting the tendrils

And tangles of tales that you hide inside;

The shame and the sorrow, the wounds you inflicted,

The love you distorted, each deeply tied lie. 

Yet each knot is loosed by love ‘til you’re shining! 

Forgiveness as kindly and homely as tidying. 

(c) Susannah Underwood 2019