artist thought of his benefactor

artist thought of his benefactor / discovering mongst a sheaf of old papers a drawing the gentleman had made of him in his youth / first meeting / recall that morning so long ago now seems some other life / tall elegantly dressed gentleman offers an orange / kindly peel it young man / seated by fountain / light play sparkle brilliant and clear / Fishface forever shy with strangers even as a child / obediently complies / without entering into conversation / feel of eyes on downcast head / orange emerging carefully peeled / pith cleaned from the back of each segment / thumbs down the axis / globe divided in two / forceful imagination makes shyness / intensity of interest in those deep dark gentlemanly eyes / poised connoisseur / silently watching / orange peeling as if a long established ritual / as it was to become / elaborated to cover each and every fruit / artist sees himself there looking up at this mysterious gentleman so obviously enthralled by the performance he had just witnessed / there was about this man an air of true independence / and loneliness / mingling indecisively in his expression / too young then to judge the suffering represented / simply drawn to the gentleman’s obvious interest / it felt promising / true and quiet kindness of the white gloved hands / hiding scars later to be seen / without the kindness / fear of intentions would’ve held sway / how they ate those oranges with relish / young hands washed in tha fountain