A Painting For Humanity
The vividness of the dazzling tones
of an Autumn's landscape is alluring,
making the beeches gleam when it rains;
it has captured me into the realm of fantasy,
as I am taken onto a road walked by a couple
that strolls side by side so gladly and serenely.
Gogh's ghost speaks to me from a gilded frame,
he invites me in to accompany him to his home...
down a path that he has walked before;
he senses my contentment of wonder,
so gladdened by his September landscape,
then slowly he unfolds his mystery to me."
He explains why he painted the flamboyant scenery,
" Any man affected by such a vision
must not stand still and contemplate it;
he must grab brush and paint and live
his last noble moments in the shadow of solitariness. "
" After I died, my paintings have made fortunes,
I was paid little, not enough to survive my day;
at times, money was scarce even to buy
a canvass, but relying on providence
I have been rewarded for my patience,
and seeing you admire what I've created,
makes me happy and worthy of my accomplishment. "
" Thank you, kind friend for your valued company;
I am a few yards from home: a grave with a granite
headstone is the coldest place in the depths of the earth!
Here, I'm warmed by sun rays...a return to a past life;
may I ask you to take me back to my gilded frame?
I feel a complete stranger after a long absence;
my real home is not where I was born and painted...
it's there in that landscape I call sweet refuge. "
I walk him back as he straddles on his tired feet,
and looking at me he warns, " Aspiring artist,
don't let time be your merciless foe, defeat it
with every ounce of courage, get to work! "
I heed those prophetical words and ponder
them along the lively path that resembles the one
he had painted for humanity to appreciate beauty.
Painting: " Les Alyscamps " by Vincent von Gogh
Written on 5/6/2016
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