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Threatening Skies

believed to be Vincent van Gogh's last painting
Wheat Field under Threatening Skies with Crows

"Having returned here, I have found myself feeling much sadder. My life is being attacked at its very root, and the steps I am taking are unsteady." —Vincent van Gogh

Vincent did not speak the tongue of the living.
His second-hand tongue was thin-skinned.
But his threatening skies pound the air.
The crows are black waves washing over the wheat.
I will not fool myself thinking art soothes rough edges.
Peace is a horseshoe on the soul's anvil.
The heart that has been burned
is a heart that knows heat—
like a wheatfield blazing in the autumn sun.

My tongue leaves you with this:
I live in my mouth,
Vincent lived in his hands;
if you ever vouchsafe to me where you live,
I will dispatch you these poems.

from Turtle Woman & Other Poems