he comes from dutch reformed family, disappoints (emotionally distant, bereaved) parents; as both a preacher and painter, vincent ministers to peasants, potato eaters, and sowers; people of humble cottages.
follow him to france en plein aire; walk along avenue of poplars, past red vineyard and white orchard (smell the blossoming almonds) into wheatfields with haystacks, under dark shadows of cypresses, to the banks (and boats) of the seine.
admire the light of bedroom in yellow house or the cafe terrace, cobalt skies of starry nights, and dying beauty of golden sunflowers: feel angst of stark self-portraits (especially with bandaged ear); hear gunshot…black crows cawing.
______________
At dVerse MTB prompt, Bjorn Rudberg encourages us to make a list and write a poem. I made a list of some of Vincent Van Gogh’s (almost 900!) paintings and wrote a poem about the artist’s life.
remembering the daughter she never knew; today is another anniversary of the day she was removed… from her womb, from her life, but never from her mother’s heart.
asking questions like what color are her eyes? does she look like me? wishing she could hug her girl and ask for forgiveness; who knew? a mother died too.
______________
Linking to dVerse poets where Punam invites us to write ekphrastic poetry inspired by Indian artwork.
Sitting on the bay shore, the Golden Gate in view, enjoy an afternoon delight with bottle of bordeaux.
In nearby pool of ebb tide where sea foam kisses shore I hear a mermaid singing summer song of salty lore.
Her name is Desdemona, the wind rush plays her hair; then sudden as quicksilver, siren’s no longer there.
A swish of tail, a splash of scale, she dives back under brine… But when I tell my friends of Des, they say, “Lay off the wine!”
______________
Linking to dVerse, where Merril challenges us to use at least 5 names of roses in our poem. I used the following names of rose varieties:Afternoon Delight , Bordeaux , Desdemona , Ebb Tide , Golden Gate, Mermaid , Quicksilver , Sea Foam , Summer Song, Windrush
Procrastination… is what happens when there is too Much time before IT Must be done or … you simply fail to make a Plan; Perhaps FEAR contributes to putting off what needs DO– ing as you wrestle with… DISappointing your own expectations. One Remedy is to take wild worries… captive and tame THIS very precious moment…why miss life?
______________
This is a “golden shovel” poem. The final words of each line form a phrase from another poet; in this case, the final thought from Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Summer Day.”Linking to dVerse poetswhere Grace invites us to try this form.
He paints pale pewter twilight with splash of blood-orange dawn; a wash of lemon yellow morning, with buttermilk clouds layered on cornflower background, blends to tangerine afternoon; then, sweet lavender dusk which transforms eggplant evening into deep indigo night.
______________
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1
Snow falls noiselessly from a windless sky, alighting on back deck and fence post, shed roof and fallow field. We can feel the gathering of snowflakes but cannot hear their conversation. Rabbit tracks crisscross white breast of winter.
Spring crocus push through snow’s crust soundlessly, if not effortlessly. Green spears surround the hardy stem. Bright purple petals display golden stamen and pistil. Life is determined to bloom and reproduce beauty.
Dark eyes watch intently, soft nose wriggles. Wild rabbit moves stealthily on fur-boot feet. No rustle of leaf, no snap of stick, just a flicker of movement and flash of cotton-ball tail. First a twitch, then a hop, final sprint beneath spruce.
earth tilts toward sun far side of moon holds silence seasons change places
_______
Haibun Monday at dVerse Poets, hosted by Frank Tassone
You must be logged in to post a comment.