Mish at dVerse’s “Poetics” asks us to take on the persona of a color, “imagine what they see . . . . slip out of our human bodies and become nothing but a color.” So it is written, so it is done, but in the voice of one particular color, Vincent van Gogh’s yellow.
Van Gogh died in July 1890 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
When you turn to me away from Rachel
For whom you sheared your face of an ear
Isn’t the world brighter, like sunflowers?
And the walls of your house in Arles
Lavishly canvased, as the awnings
As cafés, bedframes, straw hats, sunsets
I am the light running before you
Swirling you up to starry nights and moons
Away from the blackness of eyes
That never see you like I have seen you
Radiant in the waving fields of wheat
Until the day you clasp your hands
Round the ochred skin of despair.
Click on Mr. Linky to read more dVerse poems.
This Jolly Beggar 
Van Gogh’s yellow is a great take on the post Dora. I love the wheat fields and the ochre skin. The feeling of warmth and light shines through! Well done!
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Dwight,
Thank you. So many of his paintings speak of light to me. It’s not easy to miss, so his end is all the sadder.
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You are welcome! It really is sad to see someone check out! It seems he had some deep issues throughout his life.
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Doctors tried to help and his brother Theo, of course, and his sister were as supportive as they could be, but he kept spiraling down. It is one of the saddest stories in art history.
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It really is. But, at the time people did not think his art was very good! Sad reality. Seems it takes a hundred years for art to become worth anything!
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Isn’t that amazing? It takes time to correct our judgments it seems. Now I can’t imagine a world where you don’t walk in somewhere and see a Van Gogh print, even on a t-shirt or dress! 🙂
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Yes, I see the starry night when I go to my eye doctor!
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🤩
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This was very moving and made me think of how Van Gogh probably had a deep connection to that yellow. The “ochred skin of despair” is a powerful description and sticks with me at the end. This is so well written! 👏
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There’s that sense in his art that those yellow strokes and swirls kept something dark at bay. They are his trademark. Thanks, Tricia. ✨
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You really summoned the great artist himself, Dora ~ well done!
❤
David
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David,
Thanks you. He’s the only artist whose many paintings I can summon up in my mind without effort. So naturally…
Pax,
Dora
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I’m a massive van Gogh fan, Dora, and love that you have written about his yellows, not just the sunflowers but even the house in Arles, the ‘cafés, bedframes, straw hats, sunsets’. The way he used yellow gives insight into his state of mind at the time of painting, as you have explored in the final lines.
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Kim,
So glad you liked it. The man and his art have an unusual hold on our imagination. His paintings are seared in my mind too. Maybe his tragic end has something to do with it, but mostly his amazing genius. Thank you so much for your generous comments.
Pax,
Dora ✨🌻
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Oh this is so empathetic and heart-rending! To imagine the Artist soothed by his own yellow is beautiful, despite the inevitable sad conclusion.
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Ingrid,
I had to write several drafts as pedestrian as the final one turned out. Van Gogh’s art has been a constant & deeply confounds, saddens, and delights me as when I was a child. Hard to write about. Thank you for commenting! ✨
Pax,
Dora
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The same for me, his art really speaks to me it seems to be infused with the ‘still, sad music of humanity.’
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Isn’t that a Matthew Arnold line? I love it and you’re so right.
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It’s Wordsworth from ‘Tintern Abbey’ but maybe Arnold used it as well. Your poem is anything but pedestrian!
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💝
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This is incredibly poignant. You have captured the underlying emotions of Van Gogh’s yellow so well. 💝
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Sanaa,
Thank you so much. No one has trouble conjuring his yellows so it was an easy choice.
Pax,
Dora
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Oh you rocked this prompt! I especially loved the line “..Away from the blackness of eyes, That never see you like I have seen you” A beautiful tribute to Van Gogh!
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Jay,
Thank you. I don’t know why it is that Van Gogh seems more personally “known” by his fans than any other painter. The medium and the man somehow became one. Amazing!
Pax,
Dora
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Yes, Dora well said! He painted with such passion that he himself became an art.
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We have tended to fetishize him when we deal with him superficially, which what art collector hasn’t done?
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Heart wrenching. If only he could have felt the sunniness of yellow but he seemed to be grasping it in his work. Mental illness is the saddest thing on the planet to me. Thank you for this unique and very moving take on the prompt.
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Mish,
You’re so right. I read somewhere that he stopped painting in yellows just before his death. Mental illness is the cruelest disease. Thanks for your generous comments and for the inspiring prompt! 🌻
Pax,
Dora
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I am the light running before you
Swirling you up to starry nights and moons
This piece was captivating Dora!
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Rob,
Thank you. Van Gogh once said that he felt closest to God when he painted the stars in the night sky.
Pax,
Dora
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Even though he was not treated well in France, he stayed because of the gorgeous yellow around him. Excellent choice to inhabit, Dora!
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Thank you, Lisa. 🙂
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You’re most welcome 🙂
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Dora this was absolutely beautiful. I love how you used Van Gogh and his colors ☺️💕
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Christine,
Thank you for the generous comments. I really can’t think of a popular painter who made a color all his own like Van Gogh.💫
Pax,
Dora
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This is a beautiful tribute. You’ve ignited art for art, and love in kind. ❤
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Thank you kindly! 🙂
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