For Vincent and that black coat you'll never offer
there is a list
of reasons
Van Gogh
may have cut off
his ear.
Maybe it was love
of man, Gauguin,
mother, whore,
brother, Theo that forced his hand.
Some jealousy that put the
green in the Starry Night.
Numbers 3 and 4
say he wanted to punish
his parents
through his the suffering of own
body. the jagged mouth of blood speaking
as if the sewn and healed scar of lip had never been opened
6 and 7
emasculation
desperation for a heavy
head on a breast
to be nearer
nearer the
heart
8
madness, disease, the shame of a self so large, there were no canvasses, no field of sunflowers
for exorcism
But...I consider...
He may have just
picked up his palette
knife and on its edge
seen art.
The way you or I
know desert rose
is the color
for our
cheek
Or candy apple
the right tie
to turn their
head.
Vincent may have just
known
that was the thing to do
for him.
