Timeworn
Red, dull
in bright sunshine,
with edges worn, rounded.
The history of then
and now in each separation,
each drop that flows
between them a microcosm
of all that has passed, will pass,
the traffic of millennia
leaving impressions upon which
all that follows is built.
This poem is my response to Twiglet # 274: red bricks.
Shared with Day 16 at napowrimo.net.
Each New Sunrise
On the edge of nowhere
In the middle of everywhere
In your heart
And in your mind
Right there, before your eyes
Each new sunrise
That awaits you
Holds a potential
That is yours to discover
This is my response to Poetics: The Light of “Vika Muse,” which is to write a poem inspired by the graphic art of Vika Muse, whose work can be on Instagram @get.muse. I have chosen Perfect Autumn. (Click image for larger view in new tab.)
astronomers marvel
as my heart swells,
consumes the cosmos,
at the mere thought
of your presence
This ekphrastic poem, inspired by an image from Astronomy Picture of the Day,
is my second response to Day 11 at napowrimo.net,
where we are asked to “write a poem about a very large thing.”
Image source: © Francesco Batistella via Astronomy Picture of the Day
Helios
What is distance
when you pass before us,
out of reach, yet so large,
so bright as to blind
any who gaze upon you?
When you dwarf any chariot
we send your way, your passage
from horizon to horizon
will always remain a mystery.
This ekphrastic poem, inspired by an image from Astronomy Picture of the Day, is in response to Day 11 at napowrimo.net, where we are asked to “write a poem about a very large thing.”
Images
Astronomy Picture of the Day – A Space Station Crosses the Sun © Wang Letian
Wikimedia Commons – Helios and His Chariot (The British Museum)
Cold, Blow the Winds of War
An ill wind blows.
And so they march
to any border
but the border
that brings this madness
upon them, with nothing
on their backs
but sacks of sorrows,
the weight imposed
by clouds of war
come to life, their lives
in turmoil, their soil
no longer theirs.
This ekphrastic poem, inspired by Cauld Blaws the Wind Frae East to West, by Joseph Farquharson, is my response to Poetics: March Wind Ekphrastic, the prompt from Merril at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which offers four poems as inspiration.
As the World Turns
What rises from this wheel
is at the mercy of the hands that shape it.
Will there be traces of the elements
that go into its making?
Or will the making remove the traces
of all that came before? Will it rise,
or will the hands that determine its future
crush all that lies within in it,
like tanks rolling across a border
that means nothing to those hands?
This poem is my response to The Sunday Muse #200, which offers ten of the top viewed prompt images of the last four years. When I used this image last year it was for a love poem. The current invasion of Ukraine by Russia sends my thoughts in a different direction.
Blue Skies
Beyond a bay of blues layered
with a weight that would pull me under,
a harbor that holds only sadness, lies
a horizon of hope that draws me
from these depths in search of a better day.
This poem is my response to the prompt, Tuesday Poetics: Fay Collins revisited,
from Sarah at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which offers eight paintings by Fay Collins
for inspiration. I chose Floating Seaweed.
in looming darkness
thoughts once abandoned
plague this worried soul
nothing is as it seems
haunted by my past
This gogyohka is my response to Colleen’s Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry
Challenge No. 244 #Ekphrastic #PhotoPrompt,
with the art provided by Merril D. Smith.
Image source: Free Library of Philadelphia – Visitor to Germantown by Benton Spruance
(click image for larger view in new tab)
Desolation
Rock and snow my prison cell
Stranded in the midst of beauty
Blue waves and sky no consolation
Thoughts of rescue from this desolation
Now as distant as a passing ship,
With its snapping sails
A faint syncopation
Against the murmur of swans
Taunting me from afar
The freedom of their aerial maneuvers
Bringing only profound sadness
Each passing day
The spark of hope dimmer
Until frozen
Splintering, shattering
Finally gone
“Desolation” has it’s roots in a poem I wrote for a prompt from Jane Dougherty and subsequently edited for The Ekphrastic Review, where it was published in October 2018. It was inspired by In the Blue Expanse, by Arkady Rylov, and can be found here.
Shared with OpenLinkNight #299 at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.
Juneteenth
Joy has the power
to lift the shadows of sorrow.
Though they may persist,
they do not cancel
celebration, which has a power
of its own. To own that
is an expression of freedom.
The sculpture above, titled “Adjacent,” is by Chad La Fever and is being dedicated Sunday as part of Juneteenth celebrations in Jefferson City, Missouri (the state capital). The sculpture, made from silicon bronze with a clear lacquer seal and wax, stands about 7 feet tall and is one of many planned for Community Park in the Historic Foot District Area Sculpture Series, a focus on the experiences of African American Jefferson City residents during the world wars and segregation. About the sculpture, the artist says,
“The sculpture is a commentary on segregated co-existence and represents the very different lives of Black and white people living near one another, yet worlds apart. “Both figures are standing together in familiar and intimate proximity, but a wide gulf existing between the figures prevents them from being fully engaged. With heads hung and nearly in contact, there is a sense of sadness, hesitation and resignation. But there is also the feeling that the two figures are coming together with the intention of moving forward.”
Upper image by mi esposa
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