The Van Gogh painting ...

On the wall of the dining room in my parents' house, there's a copy of one of Van Gogh's paintings - Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries - 

I'll look up at the fishing boats whilst I'm eating Aunt Bessie's finest crinkle cut chips - 

My dad will dust his cod steak with black pepper - he'll have just drunk a can of Tanglefoot - pages of The Times will be strewn on the carpet my Uncle Derek laid - 

My Dad will ask me - do you remember - Mister Gatt - he painted that for me - do you remember - 

I do remember - it's as though I'm staring into a smoky mirror - 

There I am, twelve years old, thin and brown, walking through narrow streets under a sky brimming with stars - 

Mister Gatt is in front of us, proudly carrying the painting - we've come from his house, where I drank sugary lemonade - a beaded square of lace covered the top of the jug - 

We'd sat in a high ceilinged room, filled with dark furniture - moths circled hanging lamps - I'd stared fascinated at a lurid picture of the Sacred Heart - 

I'd been thrilled to see Mister Gatt's paintings - he was the first real artist I'd ever met - 

A warm wind blows from the sea - I can smell the incense from the gilded churches - 

I turn to my dad - I do remember I say - 

14.30

July 12 2014

Havant 

A