Advice for a young artist

If green curtains frame the window—
forest green an instructor would call them—
and if dust shades the glass,
a foreground of light slate—
if steel bars or aluminum
block light to six of nine balconies
across the back alley that’s less
than an alley—if the grid
of yellow balconies is a lesson
in perspective set for you—
and if the variant (bottom left)
of jacket, underwear, and white towel
hung from a bamboo pole is intentional—
Attend to the details, my son!—
if the silver water tanks that disrupt
the line of roof and sky are a reference
to the One who waters from the heights,
then take up your brush—hog bristles
yet clean—and start to bless the Lord!