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John Constable’s Sketch Pad
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John Constable’s
sketch pad really was
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a pad, a small
worn brown thing
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that he fit into
his hip pocket. Saw a replica
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of this pad in
the National Portrait Gallery
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in London. As I
leafed through the pages I
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was amazed at
all the landscapes
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in miniature:
trees, hedgerows, rivers, lakes,
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cottages, carts,
and cows crowded in
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with details in
faint hair-fine lines and no color.
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And I think of
the tiny notepad
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I carry around
in my pocket so I can jot down
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(so I won’t
forget them) ideas, phrases
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and fine lines
for poems that I might have
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as I’m walking
along or standing staring
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at a river, an
old lady or a bird in a tree.
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And I think how
now I won’t feel
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so silly
carrying around my little
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pad because I’m
not in such
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bad company
after all.
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