—after Vincent van Gogh’s
oil on canvas (1888)
Ripples created by seven washerwomen
speak in sudsy rhythm—
the canal, drawbridge, its double-beam construction—
These are my haunts since
I left Paris and our quarreling.
I broke from you, Theo, my
bourgeois brother.
Arles brings calm to my watch, hear the women
beat—white caps, black caps bobbing,
hands crossing, twisting, plunging, washing toxins away.
Solitary rowboat tilted to shore—
I’ve left it unfinished…
its rim missing as the boat leans half on shore
and half into the water; the boat is like me…
Why can’t I get along with anyone?
Will Theo still send me paint?
Tall vetiver wavering—breeze flows
bare poplar limbs—the clatter of horse and buggy
rhythm of iron shoe and wheel
heavy black and yellow collar rests
across the dark horse’s withers. Sky pulley
chains bridge to beams, each brick in the rampart walls
rising above the canal reflects goldenrod and
cobalt blue—water mosaic.
I want to touch people with my art—
I want them to say: Vincent feels deeply, he feels tenderly…
Will Theo still send me paint?
van Gogh, Vincent. Bridge at Arles (Pont de Langlois). 1888. Oil on canvas. Kroller-Muller Museum. The Netherlands.
About the Author:
Sher A. Schwartz holds an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Northwest Coastal Native American Art. She taught English, Communications, and Religion classes at University of Alaska in Ketchikan for many years and now lives on a farm in Eastern Oregon. She is a published essayist and poet. Her chapbook—The Beautiful One’s Ark published in August 2024 by The Poetry Box.
The Hemlock Journal 
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