Hidden in plain sight,
trapped in the linseed scent,
the musk of old art and paint,
behind the green and ochre
of the Olive Trees
for over a century,
it forfeited the freedom
of life en plein air.
Vincent didn’t notice
his secret guest,
having picked off
“a good hundred flies and more”.
The grasshopper in the landscape
whispered of his painting outdoors
during a self-admitted stay
at the Saint-Paul asylum in May.
Without head and thorax,
it was dead before it hit the canvas.
Kim M. Russell, 27th September 2018
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Meeting the Bar: Narrative Poetry
Björn, our host for this week’s Meeting the Bar, reminds us that the world is filled with stories that might or might not be fiction. He says that he finds it interesting that the oldest saved poems are actually stories, the poetry, with its rhythm and rhymes making it easier to be recalled. He tells us that the oldest saved piece of poetry is the epic of Gilgamesh, which is also the oldest literature that still exists, dating back to 2200 BC.
Today Björn would like us to tell him stories, fiction or nonfiction, new or ancient, using the following literary devices:
- Decide whether the author will be a participator (first person), or an observer (third person).
- Have a clear beginning, putting us in a specific place and time, and introducing the place using the senses.
- Introduce the main character(s) and help the reader to see and understand them, describing them by showing their actions rather than just describing them.
- Include some dialogue to make the story more real.
- Give it a clear ending with or without a twist.
- We can use any form we want, and use all poetic devices, meter, rhymes and assonance.
- There is no limitation on length, but Björn suggests keeping it to the bare minimum the story requires; if our stories extend over several hundred words, we should consider ways to cut them down.
My narrative was inspired by an article I read about a grasshopper that was found in a van Gogh masterpiece 128 years after he painted it.
Love how you took this into a small detail of the picture… that grasshopper still there… becoming eternal I imagine.
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Thanks Bjorn!
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One of those stories that makes you think about life, and art, and all those big things.
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I’m always drawn to articles and stories about my favourite artists.
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You’d have thought someone would have noticed it, wouldn’t you? Must have been a teeny weeny grasshopper. I like the way you bring in all the senses here.
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Thank you, Jane. I think it was so covered with paint that nobody noticed it for years!
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He did like to slap it on thick 🙂
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Oh, how fabulous this is Kim!
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Thank you, Linda!
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Nice take on the prompt, Kim.
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I sense Van Gogh smiling as he read this over my shoulder. You seem comfortable with a narrative. I guess I’m a bit of a storyteller, for narrative is always a component of my stuff.
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You’re a natural storyteller, Glenn, not just in your poetry but also in your photography.
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I ike this muchly. Love that the grasshopper is still in the painting, or at least parts of him. Such an interesting story!
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Thank you, Toni.
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interesting detail that the artist added in, must have had significance to him and we can only wonder about that, I look at paintings and always think what was the artist inspired by – a very good story Kim
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Thank you, Gina.
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Oh, how interesting, Kim.
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Van Gogh had a sad ending to his adult life. Painting outside must have been rather annoying with all the bugs … and grashoppers around. I loved your story. I had not heard this one.
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Thank you, Dwight.
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I remember reading about this, too. Well-done, Kim. I like all the small details you’ve woven into this story.
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Thank you, Merril.
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I didn’t realize painting outdoors might involve insects getting on the canvas.
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Apparently van Gogh experienced it quite a lot!
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What a creative little tale telling of the world’s most viewed hopper. Even though there’s whimsy to it, you decorated the poem with lovely phrases, quite like a Van Gogh painting itself.
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Thank you, Amaya.
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Great story, Kim! I’m enamored with anything Van Gogh…
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Thank you, as Lynn. Me too!
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Kim, great job with this prompt. I found it clever and intriguing.
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Thank you, Ali.
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I remember reading about that…you tell the tale well. (K)
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Thank you!
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Like others, so enjoyed this piece – it’s always a good day when you learn something. And there’s that fragility in both artist and bug – neither knew they were creating a masterpiece, though I hope one suspected.
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I agree about the fragility, Peter, especially Vincent’s.
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Wonderful work here, woven so well. You demonstrate how narrative can become wider and wilder inside the proper compression. I left wondering if we aren’t all accidental loci of the Master’s painting. Unintended dollops in the general wonder.
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Thank you, Brendan.
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I loved the shared story of the grasshopper! For some reason it made me think of an old TV show “Kung Fu, in which the male lead (Keith Carradine) called the boy “grasshopper”.
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I remember that show! One of my favourites!
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What a cool tale. Great subject for this prompt.
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Thank you, Sara.
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