SKY ARTS
In the midst of pandemic misery,
A chink of light, through lockdown shutters,
“Sky Arts is now Available on Freeview”
A kaleidoscope of brilliant,
Brightly coloured butterflies
Explodes into the air;
An unstoppable wave of iridescence,
Shimmering wings of pastel pinks and blues.
Sky Arts is now Available on Freeview
The scenery shifts.
Now we are in a spacious, sun-filled room,
Where women walk in slow-motion,
Acolytes, sleepwalking, as if stunned
By the dazzling beauty revealed,
As curtains are eased open,
Shutters and blinds adroitly manipulated,
Pianos tinkle gently, melodiously,
“Light is an art form” a voice intones,
“Sky Arts. You are in a good place”.
And so you are.
Portrait artists, landscape artists,
Impassioned cineastes, all here for you.
A benison, a balm, out of clear skies of blue.
Sky Arts is now Available on Freeview
When the Sky Arts channel became available on Freeview, I was curious, but not particularly excited. I am an enthusiastic follower of many of BBC4’s arts programmes, and my first impressions of Sky Arts were that – in comparison to BBC4 – it would only offer shallower, more populist programmes about rock music, cinema and art history. The Portrait Artist of the Year programmes soon won me over, however, and now Sky Arts is my go-to channel – especially on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. It is an oasis of calm, soothing civilization and culture, and I don’t know what I would have done without it, during the last few months of Lockdown.
stewartstanzas 