Vincent’s “View of Arles with Irises in the Foreground”

Vincent’s View of Arles with Irises in the Foreground

To see as you do, Vincent, would give a soul
a clearer heart:  the trees that look like 
upside-down men, plunged headfirst 
into the earth to their waists,
their leaves like women’s hair blown 
by the wind and the irises’ pouting lips 
parting for the butterflies and the bees,

the red roofs under which the harlots of Arles
grind their tricks into dust,
and the church tower remanding all eyes
to look up at that troubled paint in the sky—
those tiny strokes. 
your fingers, your brushes, 
and your burden of beauty.