POEM PORTRAITS
Artwork inspiring ekphrastic poems. Copyrighted paintings are displayed through links.
Choosing Cherries, 1940
(after The Cherry Tree, Le Cerisier, by Balthus, 1940)
(A Villanelle)
Antoinette chooses cherries from a tree
on a ladder. Balthus paints. The bushes bloom.
Waves of soldiers move toward Gay Paris.
. . .
The Sultan's Aging Son Recalls the Hippo Hunt
(Italian Sonnet)
(after “The Hippopotamus Hunt,”
by Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1615-1616)
“The sultan sent three sons…” His voice is frail;
the boys lean in. “On horseback, battle bound,
we marched with two barbarians to the sound
of barking curs at our feet and a distant wail
of hippo. Coming close, we saw her flail
a crocodile about. We circled ’round
them in the bog, on sinking hooves. As a hound
sunk teeth into flesh, we readied to impale
. . .
Skara Brae
(A Terzanelle)
Beneath a wintry wind, a village lay
in sand, in secret till an arctic storm
blew back the slender shroud of Skara Brae.
. . .
Photo posted with photographer's permission.
The Rhino Takes a Snooze
(A Terzanelle)
(after “Exhibition of a Rhinoceros at Venice,” by Pietro Longhi, 1751)
The rhino sighs, then slowly chews
on hay. He gives his lips a lick,
shakes a fly, and takes a snooze.
. . .
Mr. and Mrs. Andrews Sowing Green
(A Villanelle)
(after “Mr. and Mrs. Andrews,” Thomas Gainsborough, c. 1750)
Mr. and Mrs. Andrews now convene
to pose for the painter. As if in exposé,
the sky is tossing thunder. What a scene!
. . .
Kyrielle Dream Delight
(after Trittico del Giardino Delle Delizie, Bosch, c. 1460-1516)
Naked maidens mount the white boar,
bulls, blonde horses… parade by beds
of moss-green hedges by the shore,
balancing blackbirds on their heads.
. . .
Painting free for use on Pixabay
Non-copyrighted mural of Diego Rivera
The Offering
(after “The Flower Carrier” by Diego Rivera, 1935)
The campesino crouches, fingers splayed
against the ground. Toes of huarache graze
the dirt and stones; his lemon knees careen;
his elbows lock and shiver and quake below
the load.
. . .
Soaring
(Blank Verse)
There’s nothing like it: gently grooming a horse
then hoisting saddle, pulling cinch up tight
and stepping into stirrup, swinging up—
every phase: the sitting, walking, trot,
the canter and the race. But here’s the thing:
to jump a fence while perched upon a horse
is like a fable—tale of sweet divine—
too sweet, almost, to be of earth’s design.
. . .
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