'Self-portrait' Actually Van Gogh's Brother

...................

Did you know

Van Gogh

had a brother, Theo

Not gifted with talent

but he had lots of dough

He said, "Vincent,

one day,

they will all know your name,

Now here is a canvas

Here is a frame

Here is some money

to pay for the rent

Many gifts, to share one,

I believe, heaven-sent.

Your paintings wont sell,

but I like 'em just fine

It could be I'm crazy,

It could be the wine

It could be I'm partial

to see what they wont,

but I've come to suspect

I know something they dont."

.

So Vincent worked hard 

and he earned little praise

Seventy paintings

in seventy days

The critics said, "Yuck,

Its undisciplined trash ~

You keep your artwork,

and we'll keep our cash."

But Theo said, "Nonsense!

You're really quite good!

Never mind folks who say,

'It dont look like it should.'

Dont listen to haters

without eyes to see ~

Just paint what YOU think

would best capture a tree,

would best capture a sky,

would best capture a brook,

Dont listen to those

who dont know how to look ~

Nor to anyone else,

though they may disagree

Dont listen to critics,

Just listen to me."

.

The rest of the story

We all know quite well

He worked without glory

in personal Hell

He struggled with madness

isolation and fear

He severed the world

He cut off his ear

On a Wheatfield of Crows

A Starry Night rose

and at last, came reknown

that he never would hear.

'Twas in a self portrait,

He made on a whim,

He saw what his sibling

had long seen in him ~

And for all of the fame

to be heaped on his name,

'twas the love of a brother

that brought the acclaim

.

So let us remember

the nail in the wreath

of the laurels that rest,

on the oak underneath.

The practice of art

is naught but a fart

without a great patron

to give us a start

For all of the gold

his paintings now warrant

the faith of one man

was just as important ~

There are many with greatness

God deigned to bestow

But without his big brother,

There'd be no Van Gogh

-McW

          Van Gogh Self-Portrait Actually of His Brother