From a series of poems about Van Gogh called

THE SOWER AND HIS SEED

by Blaine Greenwood

I paint the sower,
     wish to become him too,  
      with brush as shovel
           to dig in the fertile earth
               of canvas and palette-

SUN OF JAPAN         
 

Escape the city 
     to fields of Arles,
     your Japan in France- 
blossoms
      of peach
      apricot and plum,
 irises
     at edge of field, . . .

Again
     wheatfield, haystacks,
     smokestacks,
again
     lone sower, this time at sunset
      white oleanders,
      sunflowers in vase
again
     the sower, tree

     and setting sun.

HARVEST   
 

The harvest comes,

    some respite too,
     sickles laid aside.

A couple rests in shade of stack,
     ox by cart grazing 'round back.
Paint red vineyard

    with darkened moon-
     sun floating in the sky.

While the three shes pick grapes,
    one he drives cart,
 there is another

    faintly there
     as shadow comes into view.

Two more shades will rise
    from water in canal,
     the canvas red

     with touch of turquoise 
         here

            and

                there.

PAST STARS

Now daub almond flowers
    pearly white upon jade stalk
     as the north moves in
     with rolling cloud . . .

Deep green with rusted orange,
     the cypress yet again,
     this time like bonsai trimmed, 
     black fleck outline-

The gleaning women dig in snow,
     sun frozen on horizon here,
     mauve-violet-gold-
     grey streaked sky above-

Now transmutes to pastel meadow, . . .
     dandelions,

     gnarled bark of tree-

Again two women walk

    among the twilight olive trees,
two men will take the road
    past cart,

        past cypress tree, 
            past moon,

                past stars, . . .
                      past

                            stars . . .

Blaine's poetry reflects his interests in psychology, history and spirituality and has been described as "dark, homespun, sensual, rich with images". His latest chapbook is entitled Walking Naked Down the Street, published by Coldwater Press (Fort Macleod). A selection of his poems have been published in the Interpscan Journal (Canada), in Our Journey (Oregon, USA), andin Mudlark Press'  Rags III / RAGS IV: A Journal of Creative Writing (2002 / 2003).

Blaine has presented his poetry in Calgary at the Good Earth Cafe, at Waterton National Park's Bear Grass Days,  Lethbridge's Peace through Poetry campaign (2002), StreetFest (Lethbridge 2002 and 2003) and Southern Alberta Art Gallery (Lethbridge 2003)  as well as the Fort Macleod, Alberta's South Country Fair (2002 and 2003) with him being a featured main stage performer in 2003.

Along with his wife and fellow poet Druene Greenwood, he shares the artistic coordination of Lotos Land poetry venue at South Country Fair. Blaine's current writing project involves a series of poems about artists of the 19th and 20th Century (including Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec, Aubrey Beardsley, Henri Matisse, Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte). He is currently the Coordinator of MOST VOCAL Poets Society of Lethbridge, Alberta, CANADA.
Tag: Blaine Greenwood