Hayes Peterson
February 18, 2024
“Cafe Terrace at Night”
It is getting late now I should be closing soon,
I work again tomorrow and the day after,
And yet still tomorrow and the day after,
The stars will shine and the souls will laugh,
Is it really work after all?
The tables clear out, the buzzing dies down,
The music from down the street echoes,
Braiding with the conversations of the remaining guests,
Is it really work after all?
The kitchen is closed now,
My drowsiness grows,
Yet my smile remains,
Is it really work after all?
I should be closing now it is getting late,
But please do not hurry,
for the night sky dances and the streets sing,
Is it really work after all?
“Cafe Terrace at Night” by Vincent Van Gogh
While looking for paintings to do for this blog, I stumbled upon this painting by Van Gogh and instantly knew I wanted to do it. The painting gave a very calm feeling as soon as I looked at it. Since the waitress in the cafe seems to be the main focus of the painting I revolved my poem around her. Looking at her reminded me of my years of work experience, and the times when work was very peaceful and didn’t feel like work. The painting makes you feel like you are in a restaurant late at night. And combining this with Van Gogh’s calming night sky brings the viewer peace. Looking at the painting I felt like I could hear the whispers of the remaining guests and the buzzing of a late night street so I also incorporated that into my poem as well. I have worked in a restaurant and a garden nursery so I felt like I could relate to being outdoors while working as well as working late at night. Both of these, I feel, are calming experiences so I tried to stress this in my poem.