The waterfall
-Where?
There in the corner
-The tiny one there?
Simple in its space
-Gentle Rousseau, can you hear us?
With the hidden figure
-We’re bringing brushes and paints
In tall grass watching
-Oh heavens gate!
As small deer gather
-Certainly a leisurely passion.
Behind the large tree we lean upon
-Truthfully? It’s light …
With large leaves shade
-Better than that portrait though,
Giant haystacks
-Painted facing the stars,
Lead to crosses of straw
-The portrait that didn’t show a face
The waterfall
There in the corner
Simple in its space
With the hidden figure
In tall grass watching
As small deer gather
Behind the large tree we lean upon
With large leaves shade
Giant haystacks
Lead to crosses of straw
This is for a dVerse prompt: Today for Poetics, I thought we might write from a selection of Rousseau’s artwork. Choose one of the paintings in this post and let it be your muse. Additionally, use the above epitaph as a launch point to describe where the painting takes you, the viewer.
I chose The Waterfall as the painting I wrote my poem about. In the post it says how Rousseau was a self taught painter and how his work was not taken seriously at first. I used that as the dialogue in the poem with the lines inspired by the epitaph and slightly twisted. The opposite lines are then put together to form the second verse which is more praiseworthy and descriptive of the painting.
The Author Stew webpage - Stories & Poems 
I enjoy how you weave questions and lines from the epitaph into your poem, Stew.
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I pondered this one for a while and what I focused on was the figure with his back to the other one it feels like an ambush of some sorts. I think the deer should run. I enjoyed reading your take on the painting. I find it interesting to see where poets go with their words. The waterfall seems small in comparison to the landscape.
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Very nicely done! I loved your images throughout.
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I love the question/answer format in the beginning. And you express well where the eye first lands and then the searching – to see what is in the waterfall and with what prominence. The waterfall as the title….not the first thing the eye lands on.
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The figure you mention is standing in an impossible position..I’m wondering why. Any ideas?
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Yes, Stew, although the painting is called ‘The Waterfall’, the waterfall isn’t the first thing we see, we have to look for it. I like the way one of the figures shares the water with the deer – but then I wondered if the figures were hunters.
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