Van Gogh, The Move to St-Remy - revised
Posted: 09 Aug 2018, 10:43
Van Gogh, The Move to St-Remy
I returned to a house
with soggy walls, canvases ruined,
rooms flooded--the future
too exhausting to repair.
I was ready for St-Remy,
if I could paint there.
Surely the staff wouldn't hover
over me like the hooligans
in the streets here.
I couldn't stand the thought
of living alone
or of putting to risk
either myself or others.
Hadn't I believed
everyone was out to poison me?
No, I needed the calm
of an asylum--as long as painting
could remain a part
of my recovery. I must never
face again the horror
of being shackled to an iron bed,
hiding under my blanket
--an animal shuddering
in its trap.
I returned to a house
with soggy walls, canvases ruined,
rooms flooded--the future
too exhausting to repair.
I was ready for St-Remy,
if I could paint there.
Surely the staff wouldn't hover
over me like the hooligans
in the streets here.
I couldn't stand the thought
of living alone
or of putting to risk
either myself or others.
Hadn't I believed
everyone was out to poison me?
No, I needed the calm
of an asylum--as long as painting
could remain a part
of my recovery. I must never
face again the horror
of being shackled to an iron bed,
hiding under my blanket
--an animal shuddering
in its trap.