Beach in Stormy Weather
Inspired by “Beach at Scheveningen in Stormy Weather” by Vincent van Gogh
Haul it back ashore,
the empty boat —
the sails, the sighs,
a netful of hopes,
all those hungers
to be quietened
for a night.
Snatch yourself as you’d
a sweat-worn dime
and tame the throbbing
grainy steps and flapping hat.
Pursue the first pair
of footprints home
over the laughter
of a broken wind,
hands bare as the
salty garden where
water and vastness meet.
Duck the shadows
looming dour,
for they have in them
the burnt rainbow
at the end of which
it finds own ashes
in a blackened urn,
floating alone.
Pause and lend an ear
to the whistle within,
menacing, mouthless.
Let time fall from blue
to muck to frothy white;
let the cart deal
with the rattled horse.
Die for the day
to live in the wide-eyed
dream of the unborn light.
Move together for
together the faintest
heartbeats beat
the worst of tempests.
Walk on watching
the weary foam
retreat into its roofless
carapace, gifting the sands
an infinite mirror.
*A poetic tribute to Van Gogh’s “Beach at Scheveningen in Stormy Weather”
