Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

León Gil

VANGOGHIANA

At thirty-seven, the painter
paints like a madman and like a child
                                  not being a child
and paints himself like a philosopher or an old man
                                                              not being an old man

Banned from all the landscapes
of the world and of life:
sterile lost and luckless

Doesn’t he recall that in the last 6 months
he has lashed at and made more than a hundred and fifty
canvasses, drawings and engravings,
or that in all his life he has sold just one picture?

Every afternoon, after tilling and reaping the fields
of light sunflowers de-lirium and wheat fields
he paints his soul with luminous alcohols
goes into the complicit mirrors of the night
and effusively patting his face
he says:

But come on, old boy,
if you have not changed at all
it seems it was yesterday
the last time I saw you drunk
singing in the corner with your friend
and caressing the girl in the park
drunk like a god
creating and recreating the world on your way

Is it necessary to say that he has intoned deliriums and howls
with madmen and phantoms only in madhouses
and that to see his beloved Catherine
for just an instant
he roasted his hand without managing to see her?

He writes castaway letters to his brother
and sometimes on his islet he urgently requires
the humid fire of some “cheap whore”

Every morning, upon awakening
the severe and prosaic mirrors of the day
show him a diluted man
dry and dark
like an obsidian puddle
and strange

Stranger

VANGOGHIANA

VANGOGHIANA

A sus 37 años, el pintor
pinta como un loco y como un niño
                                                    sin ser niño
y se retrata como filósofo o anciano
                                             sin ser viejo

Proscrito de todos los paisajes
del mundo y de la vida:
estéril perdido y sin chance

¿No recuerda que en los últimos 6 meses
ha fustigado y cometido más de un centenar y medio
de telas, dibujos y grabados,
y recuerda que en toda su vida ha vendido sólo un cuadro?

Cada tarde, después de arar y segar los campos
de luz girasoles de-lirios y trigales
se pinta el alma de luminosos alcoholes
se mete entre los cómplices espejos de la noche
y dándose una efusivas palmaditas en la cara
se dice:

Pero vamos, muchacho,
si no has cambiado nada
parece que fue ayer
la última vez que te vi ebrio
cantando en las esquinas con tu amigo
y acariciando a tu chica en el parque
ebrio como un dios
creando y recreando el mundo a tu paso

¿Es necesario decir, que sólo ha entonado en manicomios
delirios y aullidos con enajenados y fantasmas
y que para ver por un instante
a su amada Catherine
se asó una mano sin lograrlo?

Escribe cartas de náufrago a su hermano
y a veces en su islote requiere con urgencia
el fuego húmedo de cualquier “puta barata”

Cada mañana, al despertar
los espejos severos y prosaicos del día
le presentan a un hombre diluido
seco y oscuro
como un charco de obsidiana
y extraño

Más extraño
Close

VANGOGHIANA

At thirty-seven, the painter
paints like a madman and like a child
                                  not being a child
and paints himself like a philosopher or an old man
                                                              not being an old man

Banned from all the landscapes
of the world and of life:
sterile lost and luckless

Doesn’t he recall that in the last 6 months
he has lashed at and made more than a hundred and fifty
canvasses, drawings and engravings,
or that in all his life he has sold just one picture?

Every afternoon, after tilling and reaping the fields
of light sunflowers de-lirium and wheat fields
he paints his soul with luminous alcohols
goes into the complicit mirrors of the night
and effusively patting his face
he says:

But come on, old boy,
if you have not changed at all
it seems it was yesterday
the last time I saw you drunk
singing in the corner with your friend
and caressing the girl in the park
drunk like a god
creating and recreating the world on your way

Is it necessary to say that he has intoned deliriums and howls
with madmen and phantoms only in madhouses
and that to see his beloved Catherine
for just an instant
he roasted his hand without managing to see her?

He writes castaway letters to his brother
and sometimes on his islet he urgently requires
the humid fire of some “cheap whore”

Every morning, upon awakening
the severe and prosaic mirrors of the day
show him a diluted man
dry and dark
like an obsidian puddle
and strange

Stranger

VANGOGHIANA

At thirty-seven, the painter
paints like a madman and like a child
                                  not being a child
and paints himself like a philosopher or an old man
                                                              not being an old man

Banned from all the landscapes
of the world and of life:
sterile lost and luckless

Doesn’t he recall that in the last 6 months
he has lashed at and made more than a hundred and fifty
canvasses, drawings and engravings,
or that in all his life he has sold just one picture?

Every afternoon, after tilling and reaping the fields
of light sunflowers de-lirium and wheat fields
he paints his soul with luminous alcohols
goes into the complicit mirrors of the night
and effusively patting his face
he says:

But come on, old boy,
if you have not changed at all
it seems it was yesterday
the last time I saw you drunk
singing in the corner with your friend
and caressing the girl in the park
drunk like a god
creating and recreating the world on your way

Is it necessary to say that he has intoned deliriums and howls
with madmen and phantoms only in madhouses
and that to see his beloved Catherine
for just an instant
he roasted his hand without managing to see her?

He writes castaway letters to his brother
and sometimes on his islet he urgently requires
the humid fire of some “cheap whore”

Every morning, upon awakening
the severe and prosaic mirrors of the day
show him a diluted man
dry and dark
like an obsidian puddle
and strange

Stranger
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère