Category Archives: Art

Day 1, Annual Poetry Month Ekphrastic Challenge

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Day 1: Inspired by all 4 artworks.

Wanderer

I was a boy, a prince in a fairytale world
destroyed by death’s-head invaders.
The magpie–one for sorrow–
followed me across the sea
to remind me I was alone, but so was he,
alone together

like so many. The green mounds and chalk downs
became my refuge, this foreign fossil-filled soil
fertilized love and fostered hearts—bandaging
mine, strengthening me with a steady diet of affection.

What’s left of my hair is grey now,
my stouter step supported by a stick.
I walk through my memories, the hill where I stumbled,
the dale where I proposed—

this is home now. The squeak of garden gate,
the kaleidoscope of blooms—and butterflies.
A magpie couple call to each other—I think,
two for joy.

For Paul Brookes’ Ekphrastic Challenge featuring the work of artists Aaron Bowker, Beth Brooke, Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad, and Sara Fatima Mir. You can see today’s art and poems here.

For some reason that I can’t explain, the man in the Aaron Bowker’s sketch made me think of my blogger-friend Derrick Knight’s friend Wolf, who had arrived in England as part of the Kindertransport. The poem is not about Wolf, but perhaps someone like him.

A November Morning

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John Atkinson Grimshaw, A November Morning

A November Morning

The sky is first lemon, then orange,
the air whispers with dry citrus humor
as we crunch through the russet leaves
of last year’s promise,
heels shuffle-tapping on cobblestones
that cover the detritus of centuries.

A single leaf falls, silently like the “e”
on hope. Or love. The sunrise is a question
echoed by birds in short chirps and longer trills.

You take my hand. I let you. We walk on.

A poem for my ekphrastic prompt on dVerse today. This painting makes me think of paths in Old City Philadelphia.

Fragments

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Fragments by Lee Madgwick

Sarah’s ekphrastic prompt at dVerse featured the art of Lee Madgwick. The prompt closed before I got a chance to respond, but here is my poem inspired by this painting. I may write more inspired by the others.

Fragments

Grey-furred clouds sit cat-like
ready to pounce

a breeze strokes the marsh grass—
sighs at the water-whispers,

secret murmurs heard by fish and birds
who swim and fly, here and gone because

time here is as fluid
as the endless river before me

going nowhere or everywhere,
ebbing and flowing concurrently

like conversations at a holiday dinner
where words from the past linger

and mingle with what is spoken
and what is left unsaid,

a barred door
or one open to possibility,

this world of dreams is one universe
of many where stars hum far in the distance.

Now an empty boat waits for me,
I will enter and exit many times

without remembering . . .
until I do.

Vanishing Point

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Peder Severin Krøyer, Summer Evening at Skagen. The Artist’s Wife and Dog by the Shore

Vanishing Point

In summer’s late twilight,
violet waves tumble with mystery,
the clouds are shapeshifters,
now ships, now galloping horses
dipping their heads to graze.

This is the place where wishes dangle
and we are hooked–
lungs for gills, legs for voice–
no way to go back,
promises polished like sea glass
shatter on the rocks.

Five years. We still gaze at the horizon,
still listen for his voice, don’t we, Boy?
A tail wag of hope before we turn, leaving
our footprints. Blink, and they’re gone, too.

A poem for my summer ekphrastic prompt on dVerse. I’ve posted several works of art to choose from. Join us!

The Recollection of Dreams

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Odilon Redon, Orpheus

The Recollection of Dreams

In the picture,
when the music dream-splashes color
and light,
like sea waves against rocks—
we hear storms and whispers
in the red and blue,
feel heartache and love–

and if you must see the sorrow,
also recall the luscious scent of rose gardens
the taste of honey on your lips, a kiss.

My poem from the Oracle. The tile said fiddle, but the image of this Redon painting was in my head, not Chagall.

Day 30, Ekphrastic Challenge, My poem, Rainbow Dreams

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Day 30 inspired by all three works. This is the final day of the month-long challenge. This is a san san.

Rainbow Dreams

A rainbow in my dreams–
cantaloupe sky, pink quartz beach, and light-drenched trees
dripping green, gold, blue. Here birds stop to perch
on chromatic rocks. Yet nothing remains as it seems–
shadows come, even within dreams, my mind sees
but also alters. Gulls become robins whose birdsong brings
dawn-light to forest—now, color-spray the birch
with rainbow stripes and feathers. In dreams, my heart sings.

Thank you to Paul Brookes for hosting this April Ekphrastic Challenge. It has been a wonderful experience. You can see the art and read the other responses by going to Paul’s site here.

The artists are Gaynor Kane, John Phandal Law, and Anjum Wasim Dar. Thank you for your wonderful  and inspiring art! I’m giving them a round of applause–and also one for the other poets! 👏

Day 29, Ekphrastic Challenge, My Poem, Oxygen

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For the penultimate day of the challenge:

Inspired by AWD, “Oxygen”

Oxygen

From the dark, soupy universe
light emerged, the afterglow of explosion
blue-shifted here

to our primeval oceans
where microbes gobbled oxygen
and cyanobacteria sent some into the air
through photosynthesis,
generating life.

And from there, flowers bloomed,
and then came fruit,
and us, and love, and art—

microscopic particles recycled, torn apart
in the process of (re)creating space and hearts.

I am once again participating in Paul Brookes’ April Ekphrastic Challenge. Each day, I will post my poem(s) here. You can see the art and read the other responses by going to Paul’s site here.

The artists are Gaynor Kane, John Phandal Law, and Anjum Wasim Dar. Thank you for your wonderful  and inspiring art!

Falling Stars

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Falling Stars

The child presses her face against the window glass,
watches as the sun sinks into the sea
and the first stars appear in the sky.
She makes a wish as one streaks, burns, and falls
vanishing like her neighbors.
(“Poor things,” her mother had said
when she saw their yellow stars.)
She wonders if they will send her a postcard
from wherever they are,
and if she can change her wish–
to see them again,
the doctor with the kind eyes
and his playful daughters with their flowing-wheat hair.

The child, older now,
presses her face against a now-cracked window,
watches the stars in a clear sky,
the bombs silenced,
she hears wind-murmurs
of hope returned and dreams remembered
bittersweet, like chocolate she ate—before.
She sees in streams of starlight
a vision sowed in sparkling silver waves,
and hopes her long-ago wish
will take root and grow.

Starlight Sower by Hai Knafo

I was writing something else, and the memory of painting above just popped into my head. One doesn’t ignore those things. I went looking for it in my posts and found a poem I had written several years ago. I’ve revised it slightly. Today is Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), sundown 27 April to sundown 28 April. The current war in Ukraine and the rise of authoritarian governments everywhere, makes this seem particularly timely. In one of the horrible ironies of this time, Jews, including Holocaust survivors, have fled Ukraine to seek refuge in Berlin.
Sharing this with Open Link Night on dVerse.

Day 28, Ekphrastic Challenge, My Poem, The Result

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Inspired by AWD, “Politics”

The Result

With alligator smiles
they dazzled, dangling

the promise of freedom
on the tips of their sharp teeth

but the monstrous jaws snapped,
cities, trees, people fell

fertilizing the ground with blood–

no flowers bloomed,
no bird sang at dawn,
only death awakened this spring,

I am once again participating in Paul Brookes’ April Ekphrastic Challenge. Each day, I will post my poem(s) here. You can see the art and read the other responses by going to Paul’s site here.

The artists are Gaynor Kane, John Phandal Law, and Anjum Wasim Dar. Thank you for your wonderful  and inspiring art!