Where I Was When Van Gogh Died, by Tamara Miles

I was a shadow in God’s eye

Cast from the future,

A black crow in the distant cornfield,

part of the mystified museum crowd

in New York City

One hundred years later,

that would stand

before Starry Night and tremble

at its savage beauty,

colors that predicted blues and jazz

and suffering and nirvana.

I would come to share his brother’s

experience of cradling my loved one

in the deathbed,

Would come to love the prostitutes

and thieves,

Would understand

that so little

Separates us all.

A few choices made,

the quick

sharp knife raised,

Bitter words whispered

to ourselves

and believed,

Fragile minds bent toward a

desperate cause.

I was there, Vincent, in the

Same way that you are here

now, a black crow in the

distant cornfield.