Smoking with Vincent
October 26, 2017
I was eight
when I started sleepwalking
through life
though it was more
a crossing over
my body
my mind
would run wild circles
dreams
on display
for everyone to see
Doctor prescribed
the hot sweet cinnamon
a nightly shot
to calm
my mother's nerves
and keep me still
under the sheets
spiders scampering
on the ceiling
they would crawl down
and nest
in my gaping mouth
When I woke next
I was 22
riding the green dragon
tendrils of smoke wafting around my head
running wild circles
around the rubble
of what was
my world
now shaken
down
to the foundation
I found my soul
in a palette
of Viridian
and raw umber light
my skin
a cremnitz white
I stippled
brushed
and
knived
slices
through
torrent
thoughts
stirring
up
the urge to bang the bongo
and howl
at the harvest moon
I was 25
when they took me
down
the echoing
lithium hallways
I slowed
and swelled
as the plaster of my life
dampened
my colors
now
cut and dried
flading
flaking
forgotten
when I started sleepwalking
through life
though it was more
a crossing over
my body
my mind
would run wild circles
dreams
on display
for everyone to see
Doctor prescribed
the hot sweet cinnamon
a nightly shot
to calm
my mother's nerves
and keep me still
under the sheets
spiders scampering
on the ceiling
they would crawl down
and nest
in my gaping mouth
When I woke next
I was 22
riding the green dragon
tendrils of smoke wafting around my head
running wild circles
around the rubble
of what was
my world
now shaken
down
to the foundation
I found my soul
in a palette
of Viridian
and raw umber light
my skin
a cremnitz white
I stippled
brushed
and
knived
slices
through
torrent
thoughts
stirring
up
the urge to bang the bongo
and howl
at the harvest moon
I was 25
when they took me
down
the echoing
lithium hallways
I slowed
and swelled
as the plaster of my life
dampened
my colors
now
cut and dried
flading
flaking
forgotten
Skull with Burning Cigarette - Vincent Van Gogh
Image Credit: Reddit Cinemagraphs
* Based loosenly on a work of fiction in progress - Van Gogh Latte.
2 comments
Wow. Your poem evoked a feeling of "dis-ease". It will also send me to the dictionary. Thank you. I love new words. xoA
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the pacing of this poem - you carry the reader on a journey of beautiful colors and sounds. Cremnitz white. Echoing lithium hallways. Beautiful.
ReplyDelete