Fields of gold

I shall set this yellow canvas
           aside for a while
and wait to see
           what might grow in it
in the imagination
           Yellow the colour of
joy and energy and loyalty
           of intellect and fresh hope
of the wheat fields
           on the foothills
around Arles
           or the sunflowers
that Vincent so lovingly 
           painted with his life
the sky above him
           a chrome yellow
almost as bright
           as the sun itself

John Lyons

Vincent in Arles

Under the scorching sun
           in Arles Vincent painted
fields of ripe wheat
           before the harvest

Wheat he discovered
           is the very same colour
as the sunlight
            whence it comes
confirming
           that the sun is
a deep-hued
           cadmium yellow

John Lyons