Vincent Van Gogh 42 - To Belgium On Foot Poem by Geeta Radhakrishna Menon

Sometimes,
Sudden thoughts like flash of lightning
Strike you with intensity;
Then you begin to pursue it,
Through determined action,
Totally unconcerned of its reaction!

On a rainy afternoon, as Vincent sat copying,
Suddenly, Reverend Pietersen flashed through his mind.
Pietersen was a good man, a good artiste.
The right person to judge his art work.
Just like his lightning thought, Vincent took
A swift decision to visit Pietersen, immediately.

Vincent selected one of his paintings of a miner,
With his wife in the kitchen bending over an oil stove
And an old woman gathering terril.
Just with this painting and three francs in his pocket,
Vincent set out, to meet Pietersen in Belgium.
He carried nothing else, no clothes, no bag or belongings.

As Vincent could not afford train fare,
He decided to walk the eighty kilometres on foot.
Vincent walked that afternoon, evening, night,
Then, the following whole day, next morning too,
Before his reached the outskirts of Brussels.
A daring act, ever in history by an artiste!

Just short of thirty kilometres from Brussels,
Vincent was absolutely in a bad shape,
His coat dusty and dirty,
His shoes fully worn out, his toes sticking out,
His hair uncombed, his face unshaven,
He appeared in complete mess with tattered clothes.

Yet, Vincent had a colossal will to complete his journey.
He inserted a cardboard in his shoes and continued walking.
Soon, the cardboard wore out, the socks, shoes completely torn.
Water blisters appeared on his feet, followed by blood blisters.
Vincent was starved, hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. BUT,
He was happy because he was going to meet an ARTISTE!

A Biographical Poem!