Paintbrush to a Master
For Vincent Van Gogh
The bristles are broken fag ends
and the stem is severed at the midline
but I was his trusted apprentice.
I started on dabs of colour
as I learned to follow
the moon of his imagination.
I graduated from a background
of grey Dutch skies after I proved
I could surf the tide of his moods.
I was the telescope of the eye
that saw a new world
in the face of potato farmers.
My greatest nights
were when we lit firestorms
of yellow sunflowers.
Before he snapped, he snapped me. Then he walked out into a field
and got lost in the colours.
Michael Klimes is a pensions journalist. He has attended several online poetry classes at City Lit taught by John Stammers, Billie Manning and Ella Frears. He is excited about having his first poems published.