Retribution of the Stars
(owed to Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night and my original poem “The Starry Night on His T-Shirt“)
Vincent’s stars whirl big on the night’s blue tint.
A cypress burns in tortured paint nearby.
I gazed upon the young man’s t-shirt print
And let my vain heart all reason deny.
Would that I had not trod that cursèd sphere
Nor let delusion tempt me to engage.
I permitted risk, drew peril too near.
I must now face the crime and pay the wage.
Would that I had never engaged such wrong!
I yielded where control should have triumphed—
No painted stars can sing sin into song!
No tortured art can render guilt exempt!
Soul now teaches heart what it needs to learn,
As I brook all future pain that I earn.
