Thomas Girtin ‘The White house at Chelsea’
An Amateur Watercolourist
to Thomas Girtin
John Mole
Your White House catches the post
From its numinous hinterland
To remind me, although I still boast
A watery brush in my hand,
That the world has gone penny-plain
Since I set out with so much hope
For those first strokes smudged by rain
On the back of an envelope.
Thomas Girtin ‘The White house at Chelsea’ detail White House raking light
John Mole was born in 1941. His volumes of poetry including Homing (1987) in which his poem for this anthology also appears, and a selection of his work for childeren Boo to a Goose which won the 1988 Signal Award. He has published a collection of review-essays, Passing Judgements, and is co-founder and editor (with Peter Scupham) of the Mandeville Press. He is married tot the artist Mary Norman with whom he has collaborated on sevaral childeren’s books.
In front of Thomas Girtin ‘The White House at Chelsea’