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Archive for the ‘Ekphrasis’ Category

“Of Frogs and Fishing”

Here are three poems I wrote in response to photo prompts for F2k class at Writers Village University.  Writing a poem inspired by a photograph is harder than you think!

picture-prompt-1b

Of Frogs and Fishing

I’ve kissed a few frogs.

In the fourth grade,
warts on my hands
from kissing a boy,
no doubt,
his eyes bulging, croaking
hello in the halls.

The auto mechanic
who told me fish stories,
never kissed him.

Prince or pauper?

The newly divorced,
washed up on the beach,
flopping on the sand.
Yeah, I kissed him.

Plenty of fish in the sea,
or so they say.

The businessman who flashed
a fistful of credit cards,
enough for decent fishing gear.
I never kissed him.

Maybe it was the tin crown
that fooled me, the too shy
toad always just out of reach.
I kissed him.

Does that make me a princess
in a pink tutu, ever hopeful?

I’ve kissed
a few frogs.

picture-prompt-2c

Patriot

I believe in liberty,
justice, peace and plenty.

All that good shit.

The flag for which it stands.

And the Pursuit of Happiness.

You both get out of my way
before you get trampled.

And that guy, carrying that flag
on the beach, like it was yours alone…
and alone to bear.

These red, white and blue tennies
will leave marks on your back.

So get out of my way,
get out of my way.

picture-prompt-1c

Stacks

My bedroom,
shelves of notebooks
and books, both kinds,
hardback and paperback.

They could be the important
kind, history, philosophy,
politics, law.

Instead, fiction-old favorites
and new friends, cookbooks,
Astrology and travel books,
writing books.

The local branch
of the Westlund library.

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Category:

Creative Writing, Ekphrasis, Make Visible, Poetry, Uncategorized

Make Visible: Workshop Poems

write-picTo continue our series on the Muse Online Writers Conference and our Poetry Workshop last fall, I present to you two poems that were written during the conference.

Even though the Poetic Muselings were “teaching” or facilitating the Poetry Workshop, we also “learned” from each other and the participants.  I always come up with new writing when I attend MuseCon and this time was no exception.  Here are two poems that literally wouldn’t have existed if not for our workshop and MuseCon.

  • Persona Poems

Persona poems are poems that are written in a voice other than that of the author, where the author pretends to be someone else. ~Margaret Fieland

This is the prompt I used for my Persona Poem:

– The loneliest keys on the keyboard that never get used

Typewriter Keys

Typewriter Keys (Photo credit: jon|k)

A Question

Q?

I have a question.
Why am I so neglected?
You like E and A
and I far too much.
You never type Quasimodo or Quack
Or even misspell, using Q for K.
I’m in a quandary.

There’s not much I can do,
the letter Q
on your keyboard,
lonely, upset, tired.
I know I shouldn’t quomplain,
but I do.

Q?

© Anne Westlund

 

  • Ekphrasis / Picture Poem

An Ekphrasis or Picture Poem is a poem inspired by a work of art.  I was inspired by Visual 5, a collage by Lin Neiswender.

Visit to the Beauty Shop

Like a chorus of blondes
they tell me my hair is fried
from at-home color

These hairdressers
all perfectly coiffed
like angels of desire
swoop in and mutter over
my split ends

In need of proper maintenance,
conditioning and decent upstanding
expensive $$ permanent color

I don’t know whether to laugh
or cry

I’ll stick to my box color
I’ll stick to my free hair cuts
thank you very much!

The choir shrieks off-key
paling against the vagaries
of economy

So much for a “free” consultation
I don’t leave a tip.

© Anne Westlund

 

Please check out the Muse Online Writers Conference and sign up for next year’s conference here: http://themuseonlinewritersconference.com/

“Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.”~Robert Bresson, French Film Director

 

Category:

Ekphrasis, Make Visible

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A New Way of Looking: Ekphrasis

I learned a new word  recently, courtesy of a friend and Wiki:

Ekphrasis or ecphrasis is the graphic, often dramatic, description of a visual work of art. In ancient times it referred to a description of any thing, person, or experience. The word comes from the Greek ek and phrasis, ‘out’ and ‘speak’ respectively, verb ekphrazein, to proclaim or call an inanimate object by name.

Nowadays it might be a snapshot of a scene, a work of art, or any creation that puts you in the head of the participants or an object and tell’s you what is actually happening within it.

So I thought, why not pick one of my collages as a prompt and write about it?

The one I chose is called “La Fleur” and here it is:

La Fleur

©2008 Lin Neiswender

Here is my poem about the collage:

The Photograph

Rose Pink my Papa calls me, his little blossom
I smile inside but not for the photograph
The buttons on my shoes are too tight and pinch my toes

My little dogs are lucky, they can run free with bare paws
On the fresh green grass, and rush into the house
When they are tired, heads out the window
Listening to the bird sing

But even they are dressed too fine for comfort
Tight bows of Mama’s fine silk ribbon tied
Around their necks, choking them as does
My lace collar choke me

Still a little girl’s first love
Is her Papa, and so I endure
The scratching of the lace,
The tightness of the shoes

All so Papa can take his photograph
Of his La Fleur Rose

©2012 Lin Neiswender

 

 

Category:

Creative Writing, Ekphrasis, Inspiration, Lines by Lin, Poetry, Uncategorized

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