This being the last Friday of the month, I have written poetry with my lovely poetry sisters. They are Liz Garton Scanlon, Sara Lewis Holmes, Tanita Davis, Tricia Stohr-Hunt, Andi Sibley, and Laura Purdie Salas. It’s been my pleasure and privilege to know them and write with them for the past 15 years or so. (Seriously? Seriously!)
This month, we were writing ekphrastic poems. An ekphrastic poem is one that is based on a piece of art—a painting, a photograph, a statue.
We mostly settled on two photographs of sculptures: the first is Sara’s photograph of a piece called “Spider Dress and Serpent” by Isamu Noguchi. The second is Tanita’s photograph of a piece called “El Hombre Grande” by Roy De Forest.
I decided to write to both images, and did so using a new-to-me form called the 4x4, which was invented by Denise Krebs. The rules of the form are as follows:
4 syllables in each line
4 lines in each stanza
4 stanzas
4 times repeating a refrain line–line 1 in the first stanza, line 2 in the second stanza, line 3 in the third stanza, and line 4 in the fourth stanza.
Bonus: 4 syllables in the title
No restrictions on subject, rhyme, or meter.
Here are the two poems I wrote for the “Spider Dress and Serpent” piece, which is not just a sculpture, but was meant to be worn—and to be danced in. Noguchi created it for a performance of the story of Medea (the woman from myth, not Madea from Tyler Perry’s movies). You can see snippets from the ballet at around the 40 minute mark in this presentation at the Library of Congress.
“Dance in the Cage”
“Poor Medea”
The next poem is based on El Hombre Grande, a seven-foot tall sculpture made up of all sorts of things. I loved the colors and shapes, but also the way his one arm expanded to hold up so many things.
“To be a man”
You can find my sisters’ posts by clicking on their names below. (Not all of us wrote this month.)
New painting! 11:11
OH! And I have a BRAND NEW PAINTING that is completed and I have to list her for sale. She is on a 24” x 36” gallery-wrapped canvas that is 1-5/8” deep, and this one is called 11:11. She’s all about angel time, and has lots of delicious energy to her. She isn’t yet certain which way she wants to be hung, but likes both of these aspects quite a bit. Will be going into the Paintings portion of the website shortly at $750 plus shipping. If she really calls you, let me know—for the next few days, she will be available for $650, including US shipping.
