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A child was born, suffering “excess de zele” behavior
Depression and schizophrenia were his all time plague.
First actions of adult life expressed his love for the Savior.
His passion for humanity and God were never vague.
With the pure love of Christ, he lived in a whole-hearted way.
Like his father and grandfather, ministry was his first sway.

Until 1897 he studied and taught theology…the Methodist ministry.
With heart-felt compassion and a troubled mind, he set out to serve.
Enthusiasm was met with distrust by many living provocatively.
Soon, trusting, needy coalminers accepted possessions and goodwill…no reserve.
He labored by their sides, empathetically, but his judgers said, foolishly.
The Dutch Evangelical Council, Christ’s message must not have heard.
They ousted him; his empathetic sharing judged by them to be absurd.

Cast out and rejected with dejection turned within,
Knowing value in all living, even in the poorest of men.
He had won hearts of some miners; taught a few about sin.
Now, his only choice was to return home and begin again.
He sunk his whole self into learning to draw and paint. 
Inner strength, and a woman’s love lacking, made joy faint.
But in the long haul, his vigor and honesty no one could taint!

He looked upon the heart of life and men with unique verve. 
He set out to paint the world as his canvases did shout.
He painted lively images, roughly, honestly, and without reserve.
The beauty in God’s creations was to him, never in doubt.
Whether Sunflowers and Irises, or the Public Park at Arles,
His brush captured Wheatfield with Cypresses and whirling skies.

He strived to be accepted by painters back then.
Struggling throughout his life to his chagrin.
From sanitarium to Arles his misery twirled.
His soul went out on canvas unloved by the, then, art world.
The Potato Eaters, Cafés, and Arles Ladies he did befriend.
But the dread of his disease devised his end.

One Starry Night, painted without woman or friend,
Through the years his art and loneliness had grown.
Gaughin and Sein, long-gone…Vincent, a man on the mend.
Unquenchable pain and a chopped off ear felt his last years alone.
He gave life his all and through great pain he lived and died.
And like his Savior, Jesus Christ, his lifework lives… “Crucified.” 


Written for Poetry Soup Member Contest:  'The Heart of the Matter' 
Poem Selected : “When Madness Rides on Moonlight” By Debbie Guzzie
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