— after Van Gogh’s Ghost Paintings

I dream a koan
a grove of olive trees boughs
swaying no angels

here fruit falling from branches
words falling beyond language

is this Eden or
the pain of Gethsemane
your olive trunks guard

a wooden silence you burned
the canvas anointed those

trees with fire named
all that nothing my master
piece and then you left

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David M. Brunson’s work has appeared in Copper Nickel, ANMLY, Booth, and elsewhere. He is the translator of A Scar Where Goodbyes Are Written (LSU Press 2023). https://twitter.com/David_M_Brunson