Wednesday, April 17, 2019

ARTSPEAK: Happy! poem "Autumn Prayer" by Irene Latham

Welcome to ARTSPEAK: Happy! my 2019 National Poetry Month poem a day project, in which I am responding to pieces of art that make me happy. Read why in my introductory post.

Poems so far:
Girl in a Yellow Dress after "A Girl in a Yellow Dress, 1917" by Amedeo Modigliani
When the Stars Come to Town after "Cafe Terrace at Night" by Vincent van Gogh
On a Golden Day in May after "Checkered House" by Grandma Moses
Beach Time after "Children Playing on the Beach" by Mary Cassatt
The Weight of Happiness after "Flower Seller" by Diego Rivera
By the Sea "Coastal Scene with Gulls" by Maud Lewis
Sister Song after an untitled piece by Henry Darger
Two Cows after "2 Cows" by Maud Lewis
Girl in Hat after "Girl in Hat" by Norman Lewis
Backstage after "Dancers in Green and Yellow" by Edgar Degas. 
"So Many Suns" after Kohbar of Mithila
"To an Olive Tree" after Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun by Vincent van Gogh
"Three Black Cats" after Three Black Cats by Maud Lewis
"When Grandma Reads" after Mrs. Cassatt Reading to her Grandchildren by Mary Cassatt
"On a June Afternoon" after Pigeon on a Peach Branch by Emperor Huizong
"On the Water" after On the Water by Mary Cassatt

Today's piece is Red Vineyard at Arles by Vincent van Gogh, the only one van Gogh sold during his lifetime!


Autumn Prayer
- after “Red Vineyards of Arles” by Vincent van Gogh

God is red. God is orange.
Let us thank Him for this harvest.

And for the yellow sky and sun,

for the backs that bend,
the hands that give –

God bless them, every one.
Amen

-Irene Latham





Be sure to visit Amy at The Poem Farm for the latest line in our Progressive Poem!

3 comments:

  1. Oh, I love this one with intimations of prayer learned in early childhood. And your Ahhhh-men at the end says so much about the gratitude felt.

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  2. This is gorgeous, Irene. My first reaction. An autumn prayer. I love "the hands that give" and all the colors of the sun. Just lovely. Janet Clare F.

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  3. Lovely, Irene. I picked peaches one week with an aunt, hard, hard work. I admire every worker out there trying to make a living. Your prayer, like Ramona reminds, touches the old child's prayer so nicely.

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