A Comfortable Place
by James E Cherry
James E Cherry

James E Cherry is the author of four books: Bending the Blues, a poetry chapbook from H&H Press (2003), Shadow of Light, a novel from London: Serpents Tail Press and Honoring the Ancestors, a collection of poetry from Third World Press and nominated for a 2009 NAACP Image Award. His collection of short fiction, Still A Man and Other Stories, was released 2011 from Aquarius Press/Willow Books. His work has been published in literary journals both nationally and internationally and anthologized in Bum Rush the Page (Crown), Beyond the Frontier (Black Classic Press), Roll Call (Third World Press) and Our Common Suffering (China). Cherry is an MFA candidate in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso. He is a member of the Tennessee Arts Commission's Artist in Education Roster and resides in Tennessee with his wife, Tammy.

Vincent Van Gogh
"Vincent's Bedroom in Arles" (1888) link to painting

At any moment, I expect you
to walk through that lilac door
after a day of painting wheatfields
under the Provençal sun, this strange place
refuge from smoke and drink. You perform
ablutions at the orange table, dipping in the cool blue
basin before drying beard and hands.
Across the red tiled floor, you lay upon a yellow bed,
sink into the folds of rich scarlet, soft citron.
You close your eyes and Boch
and Milliet the Zouave hover in the darkness.

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