for Vincent


Teach Me to Look

What is this spell you cast?
I want to ask, how can the moon’s gold last?
Rolling waves of stars and sky?
Their light multiplied by the iris of your eye!
You spun their orbit on a wheel of water,
And wound the cypress to a blackened spire.
The little village you put to sleep
Beneath a blue haze,
While men and women slept,
Some cold, more hungry,
But none so full of your praise --
A blanket of paint, cool and quiet,
Under the stars eternal riot.
That night, and there were many,
When you turned your gaze to the sky,
To the canvas above calling you,
Calling you, goodbye.