Arles Poems | Examples

Vincent Van Gogh

His life came to a ruinous end
Plummeted into insanity
The red-bearded painter 
With his self-hatred, despair and desperation for understanding
He drank yellow paint thinking it would make him happy 
Locked up in a mental asylum that would shatter any person’s self-belief
Deceived Vincent cut his earlobe in an unforeseen calamity 
But he channelled the awful torment into beauty
Immaculate and sublime 
To find ecstasy in the ordinary
And in transforming the banal into a magical masterpiece
The Starry Night, Sunflowers, Self-Portrait, The Potato Eaters, Wheatfield with Crows, Irises, The Bedroom in Arles 
Each a genius’s masterstroke into Eternity 
 A jumble of love, sorrow and rage
Painting the canvas in bold strokes as his heart and mind burst into flames
The King of colour, a whisper into the future unheard in his times
He died in a rut with voices all over his mind.
So, he picked up the gun 
And the bullet went straight into his golden heart
Wonder how many colours lost their lives on that day?

Dear Buddha

Dear Buddha
It’s been a while I know
I do apologise
But stuff gets in the way
These silly complications
Books to read
And CNN
But I’m here now
And so are you
So set in stone
And pond-side contemplation
I’m sure you understand
You always do
So much to exhale
You wouldn’t believe
Not so many frogs this year
Perhaps it’s the heat
And the cat’s not so keen 
Bless her

I’m so done with it all
But I see no path ahead
Just snapshots of Arles
And moments in Seville
These scriptures and hymns
Are where I seem to belong
Lenny and Phoebe
The Milk Carton Kids
Charlie’s blues
And the streets of Paris
Let me focus
Let it all go
For a moment at least
Bask in the glow
Of this summer garden heat
And breathe

If there’s any chance
You could point a way
There’s no real hurry
No real distress
I’m sure it will emerge
Somewhere in the undergrowth
But thanks for listening anyway
It always helps
And let’s not leave it so long
Next time
Yours as always
Alban’s son
Lost and confused
And almost done

Vincent Van Gogh: Cafe Terrace At Night

from beyond his
vibrant palette
that bore all his 
lifelong scars

is what I see
beneath his sky
and myriad
of stars

a scene of shades
and silhouettes
formed by the
yellow light

that hints at
The Last Supper
at that café 
in the night?

Vincent and Paul

It’s fall of 1888, the south of France,
In the verdant fields of Arles,
Two artists shared a single dream,
And so began their quarrel.
Vincent paved the way for Paul
With bold sunflower sprays.
Paul dissembled, stating plain,
“More practiced effort pays.”				
“Don't smile before December,”
Said the mentor to his charge.
And the student pegged his better
As a bon vivant at large. 
So, their tenure at the Yellow House
Grew troublesome and dark.
Their artists’ shared collective
Strayed a long way off its mark.
Dry and cold, the Mistral winds
Spread madness like a plague,
To infiltrate poor Vincent’s mind,
Whose memories grew vague.
Mania, delirium, anxiety, and fear,
Climaxed when the voices told him,
“You don’t need that ear!” 
He’d heard no praise, regardless.
Dr. Rey used his sorry portrait
To fix his chicken coop. 
Then Theo got engaged,
And Paul sailed away to Tahiti.
Now time’s become history,
And that paint smeared canvas,
Nailed to a chicken coop 
Means to claim a hefty sum.
And Le Fou Roux lies cold in his grave,
Unmindful of the legend he’s become.

THIS SPACE RESERVED FOR
STARRY NIGHTS AT SAINT REMY

Autumn

Autumn

I looked up to see
the day receding from me
and it’s falling leaves.
            ***

Note:
   The 'Alyscamps' is an ancient Roman cemetery founded in the 4th century in Arles, France. Vincent van Gogh was inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, and expressed his feelings about Japanese art in letters he wrote to his brother Theo and fellow artist Paul Gauguin.

Clerihew Vg Bio

Vincent Willhelm van Gogh
a difficult talent to truly know
unwise love choices-Eugenie Kee&Sien
made him stick to brush not pen

Finance support from brother Theo
loosed his giftings to flow
in dark landscapes&still life
too bad,  without a  wife

From Ecole de Beau Arts a matric
In Antwerp he creates his pics
Then to Paris to mix with the best
lived an artist  life with great zest

Upon the death of Pa Theodorus
Vincent does portraits&busts
as his love life to Margot ails
so also his pointillism fails

He then met Agostina Segatori
& a brief affair the world did see
An interest in all things Japanaise
then to Arles were the sun does blaze

The artists colony  was not a success
Vincent cut off an -ear-but I digress
progressively VG became deluded
'a mad redhead,'the locals said

Genius & delusion marries as one
but a recognisable usp is done
with broad brush& wavy line
a reputation to outlast his time

In Arles he is hospitalised
&unique art realised-
then with a gun suicides
on canvas though his genius resides

Cafe Terrace in Arles, France

Café Terrace in Arles, France

Beneath stars of heavenly grandeur,
In a café, romance prospects dwell brighter.
Patrons’ entertaining escapades of camaraderie
Charismatically whisper away the evening.

Visible under the illuminating gas lantern
Of sulphurous yellow, revealing customers
Who say, “S'il vous plaît” to the French waiter
As passersby stare at empty tables.

At the street’s end is seen a church spiral rise,
And in-between the buildings’ windows of light,
Over the cobblestones, the calèche chatters
As people yield to the horse-drawn carriage.

Une nuit d'été de bonjours et d'au revoirs
(A summer night of hellos and goodbyes)
On Place du Forum in Arles, France.
                          ***

Note:
   “Café Terrace in Arles, France” is an ekphrastic poem describing the painting “Café Terrace at Night” (1888) by Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890).

Ekphrasis On Wheat Field With Cypresses

effervescent swirling clouds
in turquoise summer skies
float like flocks of fair sheeps
in far away exuberant fields

beneath are cyclopean cypresses
touching celestial bosom
in deep periwinkle and corn flower
whilst  wheat fields
are golden fleece
waltzing with the west wind

oh, how can I forget 
the paradisiacal poppies
sitting placidly along the wayside 
like your eyes glisten
in your pensive mood
unaware of my presence


9 March 2021

Notes:A Wheatfield with Cypresses is any of three similar 1889 oil paintings by Vincent van Gogh, as part of his wheat field series. All were exhibited at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole mental asylum at Saint-Rémy near Arles, France, where Van Gogh was voluntarily a patient from May 1889 to May 1890. The works were inspired by the view from the window at the asylum towards the Alpilles mountains.(Photo and info credits to Wikipedia)
 

All Yours (March 22) Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Brian Strand
1st place

Ekphrasis On Almond Blossoms

dainty darling blossoms~ 
are floating fluffy clouds 
of ivory and  petunia
hanging like empyrean jewels 
'neath the vibrant skies 
of turquoise and royal blue

fingers that wrinkled in snow
tightly holding those gems ~
like you hold my hands
as we dance ~
in unison with 
the lovely melody 
whispered by the breeze
  
rich sweet aroma~
lingering in the  daylight 
feeds our hungry heart
retelling old love stories
kept in each blossoming bud

3 March 2021

Notes: Almond Blossoms is from a group of several paintings made in 1888 and 1890 by Vincent van Gogh in Arles and Saint-Rémy, southern France of blossoming almond trees. The works reflect the influence of Impressionism, Divisionism, and Japanese woodcuts.( Photo and info credits to Wikipedia).

All Yours ( March 3) Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Briand Strand
1st place

Alarming Rabidity

A-larming
R-abidity
L-ets
E-pidemic
S-pread

L-ink
A-s
N-asty
D-isease
E-mploys
R-isky
O-utbreak

Topic: Birthday of Arles Landero (May 30) 
Form: Vertical Monocrostic

Acrostic Reader

A-crostic
R-eader
L-ets
E-yes
S-ee

L-ines
A-s
N-ame
D-enotes
E-xcellent
R-ighteous
O-bjective

Topic: Birthday of Arles Landero (May 30) 
Form: Vertical Monocrostic

Radiant Opening

A-nother 
R-ay 
L-ets 
E-yes 
S-ee 

L-ight 
A-s 
N-ight 
D-arkness 
E-vades 
R-adiant 
O-pening 

Topic: Birthday of Arles Landero (May 30) 
Form: Vertical Monocrostic

Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh**
Sliced his left ear off
Only one painting did Van Gogh sell  -
maybe he didn’t hear the doorbell!


The only painting Van Gogh sold during his lifetime was Red Vineyard at Arles
**Based on the European pronunciation of the name which is Van Goff!

05~30~15
Entered into Premiere contest #11 sponsored by Skat A

Consequences

It is to Van Gogh that I owe
artistically,all,I now know,
His bridge at Arles,yellow on blue
opened horizons to walk through;
One impression,to another
led this novice to discover,
Expressions,abstracts,old and new,
a closer lens helped change my view;
Taste and see leading forth to poetry,
curiosity,helps me,to be me.

An Evening With Vincent

Armed with his arsenal of paints,
He attacks the evening canvas.
Deploying his creative genius,
Freeing his brilliant thoughts,
While releasing his passionate soul.
·
Swirls explode into existence,
While battling with his loneliness.
He conquers his muse of sunflowers,
Under the Arles...analogous sky,
At the setting of the sun.
·
A kaleidoscopic evening,
Comes to a halting close.
Captured...by the hands of a genius,
And the brushstrokes retell the story, 
Of that lone...inspirational day.




________________________
Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh

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