I. The Beautiful Uncomfortable

after Vincent van Gogh’s “The Potato Eaters”
for Skye

Drawn into the orbit of potato eaters –
Circling in near darkness—
Gaze upon gaze
rings under eyes
shadowed by the lit center –
I travel through the terrain of their knuckles
raised and knobbed like old mountains;
their faces, swollen tubers rooted in the hard life.

The gold on the table?
Merely resplendent potatoes.

listen to the poem read, click here