Monday, October 10, 2011

Van Gogh's Last Days

A yellow house, an empty room,
Stars faintly dimming in the gloom.
Sunflowers growing in the ground,
Chrome yellow blooming all around.
Sunflowers dying in a vase.
Self-portraits of a sunken face.
A parakeet in a rusty cage.
Blood dripping from a razor blade.
“Niet, nooit, Nimmer!”
A woman drowns herself in the river.
I think it was I believe the Seine. 
In May, the wheat is young and green.
Can’t you understand, Goddamnit!
I paint what I dream!
In July the wheat is withered and lean.
Let me see her, I said, for as long as I can keep my hand in the flame!
Sunflowers drowning in the rain.
To know God, you must love many things.
Will someone ever, in this vale of tears-
Will someone ever hear my bluebird sing?
La Tristee Durera Toujours!
They will not hear,
They will not hear,
They must have all sliced off their ears.

Now jagged crows descend upon
Flaming fields of wheat
Dimming forever the bright yellows and greens
Those vibrant colors I use to paint
All the flowers and faces I have seen
But love no longer guides the brush
And I can no longer see the soul shining through
All things.
It’s time to go, it’s time to go.  
The stars no longer make me dream.

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