STURMWIND... (My new poem inspired by Marianne von Werefkin's painting, completed during WW1...)

 Sturmwind…

(Inspired by Marianne von Werefkin’s painting, 

completed during World War I…)

Even the moon seems to be retreating, as the gale

Hurls its harsh wrath across the distant landscape 

And curls wintering branches into a blackened arch, where they wail

In the storm’s ravages, like the maimed weep in no man’s land, with no means of escape.

Even the folks lean too, round-shouldered into the violence blustered.

Heading for the sanctuary of a café they trudge, like troops heading for respite

Beyond the reserve trenches, where some semblance of sanity could be mustered

And memories of the slaughtered, the wounded and the insane might fade into the night…

Pete Ray…

30th December 2025…

The vivid colour of the welcoming café is at odds with the stark and wild darkness of the distant landscape.

The painting was completed during World War I and I couldn’t help likening the storm to the war, the bleak background to no man’s land and the café to some estaminet well behind the lines, for resting infantrymen to recharge their mental capacities.

An unlikely outcome, I would suggest…