Jerry Ratch

A series of poems based on paintings by Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and Modern painters.


Gauguin

Two angels walk in a dark cloud arm in arm
discussing the nature of good and evil.
Walking along in flowing robes now that nakedness
is forgot, and they both stare at the same eternal thought, with their heads bowed, as serenity is the only thing weighing them down now. One nude sitting on the blue ground stares up at them, scratching her head as they glide by. A young boy with his middle covered by a loin cloth reaches for fruit, stretching from the bottom to the top of the painting. And below, a group of women sitting on the ground beside a baby lying on its back with its face turned away toward the blue shadow, with a blue dog looking on.