Van Gogh’s Eyes

from Vincent Van Gogh, Portrait in Grey Felt Hat, 1887

We thought we would travel in Europe for a month.  We would lease a car, reserve rooms only in the major cities, and make our way through six countries.  I was on sabbatical from teaching for the year, working on my poetry and a play, and had the freedom.  Julia, photographer and teacher, who had a business to maintain, would offer one of her photo workshops in Provence during the last week of the month.  It was an easy, happy union of work and pleasure.  Then New York’s World Trade Center Towers came down amid a broader attack, and all we experienced of cultural and historical touring became weighted with the tragedy of history and cult…