Poetry Friday: Talking back to Art

Fairy rock, Iceland

 

In February, we're still exploring our 2023 theme of transformation in all its forms: conversion, alteration, metamorphosis,  mutation, growth, evolution, revision, modulation, change..  (I'm going to repeat this list every month, for my own benefit, so I know how wide the possibilities are.)  We're also repeating a challenge we've done several times (and one I love):  ekphrastic poetry---which is a fancy way of saying poetry that responds to art. 

This challenge can be done anytime, anywhere a piece of art (painting, sculpture, graffiti, woodblock print, collage...etc.) inspires you to think longer and deeper about the world.  You know you've picked the right piece of art when you want to talk back to it---ask it questions, or dispute its premise, or praise its insight.  As a group, we each threw in two photos that could provoke such a response, and as of blogging this, I don't know what everyone picked.  

As for me, I picked my own photo, probably because I've been dying to talk to this troll woman ever since I saw her on the streets of Reykjavik, Iceland. 

Known as Iceland's "hidden people," trolls (along with  fairies and other folk not easily seen)  are often portrayed as greedy or evil.  But-- if you treat them with respect (the Icelanders say)-- they can be helpful and wise.  So instead of talking back to her, I thought I'd simply let her speak. 

What words would this giantess have for me, should she choose to reveal herself? 

 

Giantess

Sunlight will turn me to stone,

they say, leaving me cliff and fissure, 

strata and sediment, mineral and sand

my nose a crag, my eyes, two black nooks,

my arm, an outcrop of granite 

dangling over the sea 

So come, young one,

take a story; I’m unburdening

myself of invisibility. 

Soon, I will be rock,

forever seen. A mountain. 

I think I’ll like that.

            ----Sara Lewis Holmes (all rights reserved)

You can find my poetry sisters ekphrastic poetry here;

Liz

Tricia

Kelly

Tanita

Laura

Mary Lee

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Tabitha Yeatts.  And for next month, here's  our challenge: 

Poetry Peeps! You’re invited to our challenge in the month of March. Here’s the scoop: we’re writing an etheree. This ten-line form begins with a single syllable, and each line expands by one syllable until the tenth line has ten. We’re continuing with our 2023 theme of transformation, but how you interpret that topically is up to you. You have a month to craft your creation and share it on March 31st (hosted here at {fiction, instead of lies!}) in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals.

What stories do you  have to tell?

Poetry Friday: Cascade Poems

 

In 2023, the Poetry Sisters are exploring transformation in all its forms: conversion, alteration, metamorphosis,  mutation, growth, evolution, revision, modulation, change...

January's challenge was to try a cascade poem, in which the opening stanza (of any length) transforms into the backbone of the poem by "cascading" through the rest of piece. Specifically, each line of the opening stanza becomes the end line for each of the following stanzas. So, if you have a first stanza of ABC, then the next stanza is xxA, and then xxB, and then xxC.

It's a form that because of the repetition, can emphasize what doesn't change: for example, something we can't let go of---producing perhaps, a rant or a eulogy. It also lends itself to explanations of process, or logical argument, making change as orderly as a five paragraph essay. But, it turns out, I wanted to write  about love.

Yes, I know February is the designated month for that stuff, but doesn't January deserve a bit of affection too? And what is love but a transformation of how we see the world?

Nothing has changed since we were young.

You keep a coat for thirty-five years.

I never follow a recipe.

We walk, we talk, we hold hands.

Our first date was 1.1 hours in a Cessna; 

you logged it, pinpointed day and time; 

I had no idea the world held such steadiness;

nothing has changed since we were young.

I still try on new friends, new shoes, new lives,

wander into deep woods, find the sky again;

you land safely, time after time;

you keep a coat for thirty-five years.

You ask where I’m going---

how would I know? I gather words

until I have to give some away;

I never follow a recipe.

Years flow into years--

a steadfast meander;

you, the banks; I, the river; 

We walk, we talk, we hold hands.

---Sara Lewis Holmes (all rights reserved)

My poetry sisters' cascade poems can be found here:

Liz

Tricia

Mary Lee

Kelly

Tanita

Laura

Andi

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Bookseedstudio. 

Poetry Friday: Recipe Poems

The challenge for November was to create a recipe poem---any form or subject---and "serve it forth."   I fear mine is half-baked, but here it is:

HOW TO MAKE DINNER

5:00 PM

Open fridge.

Check date on yogurt.

Really should use it soon.

5:05 PM

Sift through recipes

until one rises

to the top: golden

carrot soup—with rye

toast croutons—

and tarragon-scented

yogurt swirl—

YUM. 

 

5:15 PM

Open fridge again.

Using gloves,

dispose of moldy bag

of carrots.

5:20 PM

Google

substitues—

beets (really?)

parsnips—

who has those

on hand?

celery—

no need to peel

but…

YEECH. 

5:30 PM

Pour a glass of wine.

Imagine

a world where

Star Trek is real

and replicators 

produce carrots

on demand.

Eat celery

while considering

if potatoes

are close enough.

5:35 PM

Open freezer.

Stare at contents.

Close freezer.

5:40 PM

Add carrots

to your grocery list.

Chew on pencil.

Think.

5:45 PM

Open Grubhub.

Scroll.

No one delivers

carrot soup.

You knew that.

Who are you

to crave

such a thing—

Bugs Bunny?

6:00 PM

Stare at

grocery list.

Inspect bite-marks

on pencil. 

Open your mind.

When ready,

underneath “carrots”

carefully write

everything else

you need

you love

you will fight for 

until time

gets frothy

and

evaporates. 

YESSSSS. 

Repeat, 

for as long

as it takes 

to feel full.

Serve it forth. 

 

    ----Sara Lewis Holmes (all rights reserved)

My poetry sisters' recipe poems can be found here:

Liz

Tanita

Laura

Tricia

Kelly

Mary Lee

Andi

Poetry Friday is hosted today by  Ruth at There Is No Such Thing as a God-forsaken Town.