When I wake from death
I hope to find myself walking
through a Van Gogh painting,
squelching my feet through
the orange, white almond
blossoms dripping on my shoulders
as if they were still wet.
Finding a soft spot, I’d lie down,
let the paint absorb me.
In a hundred years,
some astute museum
visitor might note the small
mound in the upper right,
under the tree.
Gooseflesh on her arm for no reason,
she’ll whisper “You can feel it”
—then move along quickly.
I ought to be careful, I’ll think,
not to move or turn while being viewed.
She does not see
the way the orange mound
raises and curves
and seems to breathe—
never knows that under the oil,
a swallowed soul stirs.
“The sadness will last forever”
—Van Gogh’s last words.
Christie Gardiner is an award-winning author, poet and writer. Her literary oeuvre includes four ecumenical books, four anthologies, journal publications, booklets, articles, and the writing of her own videocast/podcast. Upcoming publications include her poems, “Theophany,” “Greyhound to Albany” and “Faith, perhaps” as well as interviews with poets Ross Gay and Michael Lavers.