Paintings by Van Gogh

Orange-yarded red and green
Little jetty-space between
Like pretty flowers on the sand
Four bright dories hug the land

Others sailing bravely reach
Toward the horizon On the beach
Four bright boats avoid the sea
And cling to camaraderie

Rose-madder burns against the sand
Dark water edges into land
The dories blaze with energy
But huddle into amity

In fact one’s called Amitié
What did Van Gogh intend to say?
Does friendship save us on the sea
Or only in timidity?

Only in bareness does art begin
Here where the walls are closing in
Upon a lonely narrow bed
Two yellow chairs and one red spread

Distortion slants the floor away
In strips of green and pinkish-gray
A single window stands ajar
But madness makes the window far

His dirty towel weights a peg
Beside a manic table-leg
His paintings hang upon the wall
And are Van Gogh. Can this be all?

Farewell, Van Gogh. Your cypress curls
Into insane celestial swirls
Your sower casts his seed away
Beneath the citron sun of day
Your crows, uncentered, wheel and fly
And disappear into the sky.