Northbound after the Heatwave
Coils of hay darken.
Longed for rain lashes the bus
heading to DC.
Longed for rain lashes the bus
heading to DC.
Outside the thick air
clots lungs. Inside we breathe
cool air; we shiver.
clots lungs. Inside we breathe
cool air; we shiver.
The bus moans, a ship
braving vast waves. East wind drives
leaves onto the road.
braving vast waves. East wind drives
leaves onto the road.
Mountains dissolving,
riders sleep, play games, text friends.
Rain and fog close in.
riders sleep, play games, text friends.
Rain and fog close in.
Mountains dissolved, rain
stops. Fog clings to leaves, fades to
touch. We live by sight.
stops. Fog clings to leaves, fades to
touch. We live by sight.
Above, clouds shred, take
on colors of Van Gogh’s crow,
blue jay, mourning dove.
on colors of Van Gogh’s crow,
blue jay, mourning dove.
Wheatfield with Crows [detail] -- Vincent van Gogh
Wheatfield with Crows -- Vincent van Gogh
In 1934 Irving Stone published "Lust for Life," a fictional biography of Vincent van Gogh in which the painter killed himself a day after painting "Wheatfield with Crows." Certainly the picture has an ominous quality, with the murder of crows -- traditional harbingers of death in many cultures -- flying into the distance in the stormy sky. The dead-end path. "I had no difficulty in expressing sadness and extreme solitude," he wrote to his brother about the picture. The idea was perpetuated in Vincente Minelli's 1956 adaptation of the book, and has become part of the cultural landscape. Brent Roske recast van Gogh's life in the context of the modern music industry in his 2002 movie "Wheatfield with Crows" and Clint Mansell included his song "Wheatfield with Crows" on his 2017 album "Loving Vincent." Even John Berger perpetuated the belief in his magisterial 1972 book on art criticism "Ways of Seeing." However, it was painted on 10 July 1890, over 2 weeks before his suicide.
ReplyDeleteRecent history of Vincents Death report that a young boy shot him by accident in the stomache. He crawled to his doctor friends house and begged him not to implicate the small gang of kids that Vincent knew and who taunted him as he painted the picutre Wheatfield with Crows.
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