Steve Gould emails photo (5-10-2022)
of four paintings seen at MOMA, NYC



Dream of The Starry Night


My friend Steve Gould sends photos
of four paintings seen at MOMA
and I hear their conversations
as they talk to each other—

In Matisse's Red Studio,
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
are dancing the Boogie Woogie—
I'm wearing my mask to join them.

Henri Rousseau's mistress not coming—
she sits nude on a divan listening to
a snaker charmer's music taming lions
in a jungle of flowers under a full moon.

She tells her dream of The Starry Night
Amidst tall cypress trees & the village
church, the stars are whirling, swirling,
and she's prancing, dancing with them.

Thought I was having fun jiving
to African tunes in the Red Studio—
can't beat dancing outdoors uplifted
to the skies swinging with the stars.


— Peter Y. Chou
     Mountain View, 5-10-2022

Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
The Red Studio (1911)


Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907)


Henri Rousseau (1844-1910)
The Dream (1910)


Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)
The Starry Night (1889)