Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen
By Charlie Brice
Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen
After the painting by Vincent van Gogh
After service they put away
animosity and criticism—
whose topsoil washed away
because he plowed his field poorly,
whose hired man slept
through the storm,
whose cow ran off—
put away at the leaving,
forgiven but not forgotten—
bathed in forest-mist
and barren trees,
in resurrection
and redemption.
They know who they are:
one spiritual body saved,
one divine mass,
congregants together,
plumb with their maker,
lost in heavenly land.
Charlie Brice is the author of Flashcuts Out of Chaos (2016), Mnemosyne’s Hand (2018) and An Accident of Blood (2019), all from WordTech Editions. His poetry has been nominated for the Best of the Net anthology and twice for a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in The Atlanta Review, The Sunlight Press, Chiron Review, Plainsongs, I-70 Review, Mudfish 12, The Paterson Literary Review and elsewhere.