Sunshine Challenge 2023

[queer_scribbling]

Prompt #1: Iris

From "Irises" by Vincent van Gogh – Studying the Famed "Irises" Painting by Art In Context:

When Vincent van Gogh painted Irises, he was living in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, which is in southern France, specifically at the asylum called Saint Paul de Mausole. He stayed there from May 1889 to May 1890 due to mental health difficulties and breakdowns; he reportedly admitted himself.

[...] The Irises painting was reportedly painted a week into Van Gogh’s admittance to Saint Paul and he produced four renditions, or what has been described as “studies” of irises but notably also of colors. The four iris paintings are namely, Irises (1889), which is the painting that will be discussed in the formal analysis below, as well as The Iris (1889), Still Life: Vase with Irises (1890), and Still Life: Vase with Irises Against a Yellow Background (1890).

• Wikimedia Commons - Irises (1889): flowers outside in a garden with some yellow flowers in the upper left view, but most of the view is on the irises in the foreground - mostly blue with touches of white and one lone white iris;
• Wikimedia Commons - The Iris (1889): a smaller selection of flowers outside in a garden with a few yellow ones in the grass, but the focus is on an opened blue iris with a few neighboring unopened iris heads;
• Wikimedia Commons - Still Life: Vase with Irises (1890): a bunch of blue irises in a white vase against a white wall and dark green table;
• Wikimedia Commons - Still Life: Vase with Irises Against a Yellow Background (1890): a bunch of blue irises and several long green leaves in a yellow vase against a pale yellow wall and darker yellow table.

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I suppose I'd slot this in with wisdom and courage for flower meanings, though I do like showing the spirit / happiness will surely come / good news. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I only have an association of irises with these Van Gogh paintings, but sometimes, I do feel drawn to his works that were explicitly created while he was seeking mental health treatment [see note 1].

Despite having a sense of across-time-kinship, I wasn't really sure what else to write until I re-read the prompt and saw that I could write a poem. So, this is for... those who have made the courageous step of self-admission, especially if it's more literal in terms of the asylum-to-psychiatric in-patient reference [note 2].

Title: Across The Centuries, An Iris

it is not time to plant seeds
capturing sunlight in kernels,
defiant of winter's darkness

it is a time for one step
just into the garden today
to watch last year's irises bloom

another step, tomorrow, an
admission - quiet but grounded
like roots, 'I think it is time to go'

papery soft heads, waiting,
drawing up courage and unfurling
into purple-blue familiarity

yesterday, skilled hands captured
these bearded friends in oil
today, I mind the asylum bones

- Fin -

Notes:

(1) Some folks on Tumblr had a stronger association of Van Gogh seeking treatment with sunflowers, so there was an attempt to have sunflowers as a bipolar community symbol of sorts. From what I can remember, anyways. I can't re-find any links of these types of discussions, and I'm only finding out that sunflowers were chosen to represent generalized hidden or invisible disabilities.

(2) I have been lucky to not face the equivalent of a 5150 hold [involuntary psychiatric hold], but I've also had a few times where I didn't admit that I needed help, that things had gotten bad enough that I probably should have been in in-patient for a bit. It might seem a bit cliché, but I do think there's a sort of wisdom and courage in the self-awareness and acceptance of asking for that type of help.

Summary: I shared a bit about Van Gogh's Iris series, and I wrote a poem sort of inspired by these paintings.

The original on Pillowfort is posted here.