Nearly two years after the birth and placement of Susan’s daughter, in the spring of 1968 while on vacation in California, she took time for a day of beach combing …and kept one handful of the ocean-washed sand she collected. Soon afterward, Susan felt compelled to purge her ongoing heartfelt struggle. When the umber monochromatic figure study was nearly dried, Susan added a sprinkling of those special sand crystals.
Her poem and painting “Sands of Time” describe the silenced emotional conflict she was facing daily, regarding the secreted adoption placement decision she had agreed to in 1966.
Sands of Time
Within the private sands of time
She drifted away
Little by little
Day by day
She combed for answers
On an ocean beach
Her heart in longing
Was seeking peace
Such escape from reality
Left her no reason
She must carry her secret
From season to season
Crystal sand on canvas blend
Could not her fragile heartache mend
Another year passed
More shadows were cast
The sands were imbedded
Her soul wrongly fettered
To see more of Susan’s artwork, you can visit her on Facebook at Canvas Creations by Susan VanSleet.
