Verdad Magazine Volume 6
Spring 2009, Volume 6
Poetry by Ellen Reich
"The Painting Locomotive"
—Van Gogh
Near the end of his life
Vincent said to Theo
I am the painting locomotive
as he splashed his canvass with unbearable blue
slashed the spectrum of hues
from yellow to ochre's billowing wheat
daubed those black marauding crows
in a feverish race—his eyes
piercing twin tracks of light
suddenly bullet-stopped
like a coal fired steam-engine's
great screeching brakes.
BIO: Recent Pushcart Prize nominee, Ellen teaches creative writing for Santa Monica College, Emeritus Division. Her work has appeared widely in journals and anthologies.