Portraits

Churchill wanted Sutherland

to paint upon his scutcheon

glory, power and celebration

of a life, of an empire, of a land.

But the painter saw much more

than his sitter bargained for -

cruelty of age, a deep pool where,

beneath the roseate lilies winding,

waved Marigold's strands of hair.

They trailed across his mind

when Sutherland called to show

his sitter that he'd sought to find

what Churchill wished him not to know.

©Terry Hodgson2020