Still Life with a Plate of Onions

His hog hair brush elicited ochre orbs;
their pale sprouts, long grown through,
contrast with green pot of camphor oil
and candlestick’s cobalt blue.

Were onions the only vegetable
the ailing artist could afford
once he had paid for rough wine,
pipe tobacco and humble board?

Or was he keen to improve his health
after battling with hallucinations
and mutilating an ear? Throughout
the January chill, was inspiration

enflamed by the response to his requests
for money to buy paints and canvases?

Kim M. Russell, 1st August 2023

Still Life with a Plate of Onions by Vincent van Gogh (January 1889)

This Tuesday at the dVerse Poets Pub we have a guest host for Poetics, Melissa from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She has come with an abundance of information and poetry about the humble onion. I especially enjoyed ‘Monologue for an Onion’ by Suji Kwock Kim and ‘How to Draw a Perfect Circle’ by Terrance Hayes.

47 thoughts on “Still Life with a Plate of Onions”

  1. Love the ekphastic poem specially with descriptive imagery of the opening lines – it matches what you see on the table. The poor ailing artist, keen to improve his health, yet giving out the best of his work.

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  2. This is such an exquisite ekphrastic poem, Kim! 😍 I especially love; “Were onions the only vegetable the ailing artist could afford once he had paid for rough wine, pipe tobacco and humble board?” ❤️❤️❤️

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  3. Beautiful take on Vincent here, Kim. Like a person who makes lemonade out of lemons, Vincent took green onions and painted a masterpiece. It still astounds me that he was not recognized in his own time.

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  4. I like this very much as well! I love Van Gogh (side note, I went to see the Van Gogh Experience, it was amazing!). Your first stanza really captures the mood of the painting for me. This poem makes my heart ache for him. I especially love this last part: “Throughout
    the January chill, was inspiration

    enflamed by the response to his requests
    for money to buy paints and canvases?”

    ❤️

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      2. Loving Vincent (94 mins, 2017) – it’s an animated film that explores the last years of Vincent van Gogh’s life. One of the few films I’ve watched at the cinema in the past decade.

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  5. Good questions, and wonderful idea to use the Van Gogh! I was intrigued by the book by Raspail, a natural history of health and vegetable diseases! Perhaps he was looking for something healthy and cheap! You’ve opened up a whole line of investigation here.

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    1. I wondered why he included the book and looked it up. Vincent hadn’t long recovered from cutting off his ear and seems to have wanted to get on with his life and work. Sadly, that didn’t last long,

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  18. Oh, what a captivating poеm! Your poеtic еxploration of thе artist’s motivations and thе possiblе significancе of onions in his lifе is thought-provoking. Thе quеstions you posе lеavе room for intеrprеtation and rеflеction, making thе poеm all thе morе intriguing. Thank you for sharing this touching and еmotionally rеsonant piеcе. 👍👏👌😊🙏

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