Ekphrastic On Van Gogh

What pain you must have felt - what a life that you lived A starving artist - swallows his own paint - in order to feel complete. Painting the simple folk of a town The tavern at dusk became your sacred domain. The room at the asylum made you feel so diminutive. You were an artist with a silent vow to God. All of your stress that led to premature aging. Your paints were your friends and your paintings were your lovers. Selling only two in your lifetime - never living to see how famous you’d become You were humble and modest to a t and few people could see The genius behind the madness- the madness was deafening The sensitive and silent strokes of an Impressionist Calmly reaching for the oranges and the blues The flames reach higher and the skies Your paintings - now viewed by millions - you’re cherished at last You make your mark on the world - with a night sky painted from memory Years after you passed away I read Your letters to your brother - Dear Theo what a terrific bond you shared I know now why you are called a painter. Thing about artists - we die young and only then are we discovered