We’ve been assigned a pastoral this month — a poem both aware of the wild world but also naive to the complexities of our relationship with it.
I LOVE this prompt. I want to write a whole book full of pastorals. But I’m just back from a vacation (a dreamy one, to France) and am already off at a book festival, busy polishing up my slides for tomorrow’s school visit. So, I almost bailed.
But then Sara suggested I just post a pretty picture from France and I thought ok, c’mon, I can write a poem to go with one of those pictures. So I did.
Sunflowers
Tempted by the golden morning,
we step off the train into a language
we don’t speak and a hope
we don’t honestly possess
and I imagine this is what Van Gogh felt,
facing a field of sunflowers, bright
and wild until they went to seed.
But still, the stems are milky,
the paint dries yellow,
and we understand
enough to get by.
To read more, go here:
Laura
Tricia
Sara
Tanita
Rebecca
Andi
And Poetry Friday this week is at Library Matters. Enjoy!
I adore sunflowers! I had them in my first draft, but changed them to wildflowers. I love these last lines:
the paint dries yellow,/and we understand/enough to get by.
There’s something profound in understanding “it is what it is” and that somehow you’ll survive despite all.
Sunflowers ended up being a common theme. They are really larger than life, in a poetic way….
Those last two lines…yes. Can’t believe you just threw this on up here at the last minute. Lovely!
It’s not the way I LIKE to respond to our challenges, but sometimes you gotta do what’s possible!
THIS was last-minute?!? Van Gogh and feeling no words but meaning in a common beauty?
Lady…
“no words but meaning in common beauty”…. gah — you always describe things PERFECTLY!
Yes! What the other said – The whole poem builds to such beauty. I adore your last four lines!
thank you!
Lovely!
thank you!
Gorgeous–love the lingering life still in the sunflowers, thanks!
thank you!
Divine….and utterly worthy of sunflowers, too, which is saying something, because they are nature’s In Your Face Flowers, impossible to ignore, and filled with joy. I want to read this again and again, whenever I face the blank page…to remind myself I need only understand enough to get by….
ooo, that’s a good use for this poem for sure.
how OFTEN we only just barely understand enough…
“And we understand/enough to get by” feels like the best words from an optimist. Capturing a moment from your wonderful trip is special, too. Like Sara, I want to keep this for “those” times! Thank you
Oh, thanks, Linda….
The hope, the despair, and the ending with “enough to get by.” So perfect.
Thank you, friend!
Sunflowers are a wonderful topic because they can be both beautiful and ugly at the same time–I always loved the way Van Gogh painted their tough green backs. I can really feel that sense of understanding enough to get by. Thanks for this poem, Liz!
I have such lovely memories of a trip to Arles to see Van Gogh’s stomping grounds. You captured that feeling of not knowing the language along with the carefree feeling of a vacation. “But still, the stems are milky,
the paint dries yellow,
and we understand
enough to get by.”
“Tempted by the golden morning, is a great opener. Amidst the challenges, hope survives.
I am swooning over many lines of your pastoral. I read it again and again and every time I think there is one particular part that appeals to me most, another jumps out at me. I adore these lines
I imagine this is what Van Gogh felt,
facing a field of sunflowers, bright
and wild until they went to seed.
but I think it’s how it all fits together. Thanks so much for sharing.
Lovely! Sunflowers are among my favorites–and in France.