Van Gogh To His Brother, Undated Letter,1891 Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

Van Gogh To His Brother, Undated Letter, Summer,1891
[to my brother, Alan Leslie Douglas]

the yellow leaves were falling
I could not catch them with my hands
the yellow stars and the pastel haloes
round them, ringing like colored glass
and every shade, a sound:
I was painting them mid-flight-
rosettes, like medals pinned against
the night, my
Legion of Honor-

you know, we always knew the
time of orchards was so brief, remember?
the pink and the mauve - the
apricot light - the moment's lightening.

I have a new studio; the walls are iris,

touched with snow.
I'm painting in colors we never
dreamed existed - without haste.
Dear Theo.
nothing is wasted.

mary angela douglas 23 april 2009

Note on the poem: I do know that Van Gogh died in 1890. I wrote this poem imagining what might have happened if he had lived for another year as it often happens in life that unexpected good happens after tremendous difficulty.

Or the poem can be understood as a message to Theo from Van Gogh in the afterlife where he understands his art completely and is allowed to continue in it.

I would also like to add that I do not believe that Van Gogh shot himself. There is some evidence now to the contrary that is quite compelling but myths like that, sadly, die hard because people in general would rather believe artistic geniuses are crazy; it kind of levels the playing field for them. Van Gogh ALWAYS in his letters to Theo was bubbling over with plans for future work, conceptions. His famous yellow paintings of the crows over the wheatfields analyzed as schizophrenic colors and etc. is baloney. Van Gogh wanted to paint in all the colours all the time. He was limited due to his financial situation, even with Theo's help. He longed to be a colorist. I always think especially regarding the sunflower paintings how coudl anyone get the Sun itself into a paitning and not be filled with life and the desire for life. Always, Van Gogh wanted to live. That is my belief. The evidence that is unusual in dismissing Van Gogh's death as a suicide relies on strong evidence that it was an accidental shooting. This is found in the book called (I am pausing to look it up) VAN GOGH: A LIFE (2011) cowritten by Steven Naifah and Gregory White Smith after ten years of intensive and extensive research.