Amsterdam, Amsterdam
a rhyme in itself
the land assumes the flatness of the sea
down by the canal
bikes in a row
on seedy side streets
sex shops and sex shows
stags and stagettes
dildos in windows
but thank you for Heineken
Rembrandt, Dennis Bergkamp
Johann Cryuff
Vincent Van Gogh
does art need anguish
or does anguish need art
who knows, who knows?
.
back in Vancouver
an exhibition…
They’re taking photographs down by the water
in front of the cubist whale
float planes take off from the harbor
the mountains slumber in the morning haze.
Inside the convention center
paragraphs of opaque prose
attempt to describe the genius
of Vincent, Vincent van Gogh.
But if painting is the medium
there is no need for go-betweens
it’s all there on the canvas
the painting is what the painting seems.
*
but now it’s Autumn
the leaves on the trees
bordering the soccer field
are leaking yellows and reds
like a paint store catalogue
a scene to impress an impressionist
Where’s Vincent when we need him?
Where’s Vincent when we need him?
This is a mash up of old poems and new in response to Brendan’s prompt on the subject of desperate beauty over at Desperate Poets.
Stopdraggingthepanda 
I love this, especially the questions at the beginning and end. I can see that harbor and the mountains slumbering in the morning haze. They were doing that here this morning too. So beautiful. I really enjoyed this poem, Jim.
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Thanks Sherry, much appreciated!
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I like the way you liken van Gogh’s painting of colour to the world you see in front of you. Perhaps that’s where art truly inspires. Rather than contracting into intellectual interpretations of the paintings, a great artist’s work expands us and enables us to see the world with fresh eyes.
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Where indeed? (K)
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does art need anguish
or does anguish need art
who knows, who knows? … this is a great mash up, loved reading it… and yes where is Van Gogh when you need him… the repetitions work very well indeed.
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Thanks Rajani!!
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perhaps art and anguish need each other….they are go dependent. Just a thought. Enjoyed you thought process in this one and the questions.
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I enjoyed reading your medley very much. The ones ‘splaining VanGogh are the same ones that wouldn’t have given him the time of day when he was alive. Just like the divine (Jesus, Buddha, Confucius, Muhammed, etc.) with their genuine, simple philosophies were reviled when alive but afterwards marketers and controllers turned their philosophies into religions.
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Your Vancouver autumn is in need of Vincentivizing. What that means to me, bro, is work, work, work at it.
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Sage advice Brendan!
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‘there is no need for go betweens’, indeed ~
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It’s often difficult to meld several poem-fragments into a coherent piece, but this one has a strong narrative flow that gives integrity. We have the flatness of monotony paired with the vibrant life in Vincent’s lucent work…one feeds the other as currents fuel waves, and the poem rides the resultant surf, high and clear. I especially like the fourth stanza of the Vancouver section, and the final lines.
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Thanks Joy!
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A mash-up, you say? it hardly read that way–it was smooth reading. I especially love the stanza beginning with “They’re taking photographs…” That’s some rich writing. Your opening lines suggesting that “Amsterdam, Amsterdam” is a poem by itself made me recall an old Paul Simon song that begins “Armistice Day, Armistice Day…” It has the same pleasing sound to it, and i always wondered what made him key on Armistice Day, long since changed to Veteran’s Day. Just the sound of it, perhaps? Anyway, where have you gone Vince Dimaggio?
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Thanks Shay, I’m a big fan of Paul Simon, he is in some way strangely underrated as a writer of poetic pop songs .
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