The Starry Night, by Valerie Bacharach

Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh (Netherlands) 1889

The Starry Night
                       
All the kids I knew in college seemed to have that poster
in their dorm room, hung
 
above a desk or bed, staring at it while
Stairway to Heaven boomed from cheap speakers.
 
Forget the stars. Look at the little houses
with a bit of yellow in the windows, candles perhaps--
 
and I think of a story I heard, maybe from the Talmud 
or some rabbi, about how God is ten steps ahead of us,
 
a bit of flickering light in the dark, and as we approach, 
the light moves onward, a small beacon in the distance, beckoning us.
 
I’d like to think this is true, the way the homes in Starry Night
send out little dabs of lightness, a quick flick of the artist’s brush guiding
 
the man or woman or child, tired from a long day, trudging 
one step then another, hoping to make it home soon, 
 
but stopping every now and again to gaze upward
at the wild swirls of brilliance lighting up the sky.

Valerie Bacharach

Valerie Bacharach is currently pursuing her MFA in poetry at Carlow University and is a proud member of the Madwomen in the Attic.  Her writing has appeared in publications including Pittsburgh Poetry Review, Pittsburgh Quarterly, The Tishman Review, Topology Magazine, Poetica, The Ekphrastic Review, Public Source, and Talking/Writing. Her first chapbook, Fireweed, was published in August 2018 by Main Street Rag.