Poem Up at The Ekphrastic Review ~&~ Mark Rothko Blues

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr

My poem “the differences subtle” appears at Ekphrastic Writing Challenge Responses: Mark Rothko. It can be seen here, with other deserving reads. The painting “Untitled (Black on Red, 1957),” by Mark Rothko, is the inspiration for the challenge.  Once again, I’m fortunate to be on the same page as Kerfe Roig.
My thanks go to Lorette C. Luzajic, Editor at The Ekphrastic Review, for including my poem.

After submitting this, I read about the “Rothko” in a post by Paul Szlosek, and I decide to try the form. The “Rothko” was created by poet Bob Holman. Following Mark Rothko’s practice of using three distinct colors, it contains three lines, three words per line, in a tic-tac-toe pattern (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) – written while standing in front of a Rothko painting (here, viewing the image).

Mark Rothko Blues

red heat surrounding
scarlet barely surviving
blackness consuming all

Ken G.

Image source: Tate – Untitled (Black on Red, 1957), by Mark Rothko

22 thoughts on “Poem Up at The Ekphrastic Review ~&~ Mark Rothko Blues”

  5. Rothko said “There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend: one day, the black will swallow the red.”
    He must have been sending you messages. Great Rothko poem.
    (I almost used that quote myself) (K)

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  8. A quick glance suggests only 2 colors … but indeed scarlet surrounded.
    I’ve stood in the Rothco Chapel (Houston) on 2 occasions, and his work is NOT for “quickglances” … the longer one looks, the more one sees.
    Congrats. Nice take on blackness consuming all … the longer I look at this image, the less I see anything but the black, which to my eyes seems to be multiple shades of black competing for prominence.

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