VAN GOGH

I was out painting on location
When a man walked up to me from behind
After a few pleasantries 
He declared that nothing we ever paint is original anymore
I turned around to look at him
To digest the words he just spewed into the air
And a sudden wave of sadness washed over my being

It is true what he had just said
I see and filter the world through my eyes, my heart, my intellect and then my soul
To get to a painting that is all uniquely mine
But yet somewhere in that filter, it's been influenced
By all the great work of Masters that have gone before me
I can never ever be called totally unique
Unlike the likes of Monet and Van Gogh
Who plowed through so many adversities and hurdles
To trailblazed a painting style that had never before done in their time

I had gone to Provence to visit the places 
Where Van Gogh had weaved his way through 
Came back and was in a painting session two weeks later
And not thinking about Van Gogh at all
I painted a picture of a vase with flowers out of my head
A passerby looked at my finished piece and declared he sees a Van Gogh in it

I somehow felt pleased 
That a Great Master's ghost had permeated 
And stayed within me
To manifest himself through the end of my brush...

But I still hope to carve a path that's all my own......