Unfinished

a poem for Vincent van Gogh

This is my spin on a prompt from Poetry Outdoors which can be found here. Remembering that in 2020, there was some talk of Tree Roots being Van Gogh’s last painting and the real life inspiration for it discovered, I chose to write to that painting instead. (you can read more about Tree Roots here.) Here is my take on an elegy for a complicated artist.

“Tree Roots” by Vincent van Gogh

Unfinished

On display in the museum
is the painting left undone—

the trees in rooted connection

and exposed,

like they too knew
that they were grown 
in temporary spaces.

You can see it there—

the sun gleaming on the leaves above,
forever golden in the light 

the way that your hair
must have shone
in the wheat fields 

before the crows came
for their supper.