VAN GOGH by Karen Sorce

I think I know why Van Gogh painted

Driven mad

By sky blue brush strokes

Fields of golden wheat

And faces needing 

Relief spread across a canvas

Desire in those colors he carried

No comfort found

But still – 

The trying

A precious thing to get it right

And try again

If he could only know

The madness gave us so much more

Than Vincent’s pain

His mangled ear

Starry nights and sunflowers

Wild strokes of iris petal purples

Delicate almond blossoms

Letters to Theo of hopes and dreams

Expressed and understood

By those who follow in

The passion of his paints

In our own mad desires

Brush in hand

 

* original art and poetry by Karen Sorce

A WALK by Terry Le Feber

I’m in a garden. A garden like I’ve never seen before. A garden filled with reds, blues, whites, lavenders. So many hues. Such an abundance. And all these fragrances. Deliciously overwhelming. I never to want leave.

Slowly I walk through the wondrous landscape, seeing and hearing all the little birds with their various melodies. Here and there, monarch butterflies flit about. Bees buzzing, hop from flower to flower, making magic. 

I sit down under an arboretum’s latticed dome to rest, contemplate, and absorb all that is around me. I’m in Heaven.

After what seems a wonderful term in Eternity, I arise and walk from the lattice’s respite to follow the path to even more gardens. But…

What happened to all the loveliness? It’s gone. I’m in the pale of night, in an eerie purplish blue fog, on a bridge arching over a wide river. In the distance, I see blurry yellow lights from lampposts. It’s warm as a soft summer’s eve should be. I’m not afraid. Perhaps perplexed? Then curious. What happened to my wondrous garden of flowers? I’ve gone from a summer’s afternoon to eventide in a blink. How so, I ask? I contemplate the slow moving water as the purple-blue mist softly envelopes me and the sky above, which I cannot see. As before, I enjoy the warmth of heavenly bliss and do not wish to leave.

A warm wind pushes the haze away and takes me to where I already thought I was. Above me is Heaven with swirls of light. There are stars, planets, cosmic bursts, streaks of white, traces of blues. But, the stars! I am within the most beautiful of starry nights.

I question the “why” of all this. So much beauty. So many changes. Changes so diverse. Changes so beautiful, and I at the center of it all. Who, what, made this happen? Happen to me? Who or what is so powerful, so understanding, so wonderful, as to select me to enjoy so much in so short a time? Surely, I am dreaming?

No. Not dreaming. Just a person. A person living in the moments of great mens’ imaginations, creativity and love.

Slowly I close my copy of the Collected Works of the Impressionists Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh. My favorite artists.

WHO AM I? by Dennis Lutz

 

I am a veteran with good memories of my time in the Army

Yet I feel uncomfortable when talking about it.

I have gone to war, proud to have served my country.

I have questioned war, those that clamor for it have never been in it.

I helped raise a family, I have known and still know love.

I have led soldiers in war and in peace.  I have run businesses.

My life has been driven by events, requirements, people and due outs.

What happened to my world?

Where is my path now?  Where are my milestones?

When did politics get so extreme?

I am out of place, out of time and out of shape.  What happened to my waist?

How has life moved on and I have not.  

What happened to my passion, my drive.  Where is my memory?  Names of my grandchildren escape me.  How can that be?

My muscles are sore now, and I tire more easily.  How will I look with a cane?

My grandchildren wear me out now.  They are so innocent.

Will I be remembered when I fade away?

As I take my walk, the wind blows across my face.  I like wind.

I wave and say hi to my fellow walkers who are out and about.  We all smile, all lost in our own questions.  COVID sucks.  Must maintain our social distancing.

Who am I?  A speck in time or an eternal spirit.  The eternal spirit appeals to me, but today my body aches.  I am a senior citizen, needing a nap.

 

 

© Dennis Lutz, January 2021

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