Agonies of a Young Author

Life is still crazy. I am also still crazy and broken. But the Muse might be coming back to life (somewhat) and so in amazement and wonderment I thought I would post about what miracle created such an inspiring (half) spark.

Ekphrastic poems are based on art (usually paintings, but sometimes photographs and sculpture), and in my opinion, are as much to enhance the painting and understanding of both works than a description of the painting. The latter is reactionary, static, after the fact. The former, and the most successful examples of ekphrastic poems, all capture and further define the emotions of the artwork, drawing on and expanding them to encompass the meaning that the poet wants to convey. These poems are symbiotic, complementary, equally weighty and/or visionary.

We are doing this form in class at the moment, and I have been dreading doing my own because the examples of art available in class were to the professor's preferences-- landscapes, Impressionists, calender images. Beautiful, but nothing I want to write about.

So I put off writing my own (for homework).

But then the deadline came nigh, and I had to write SOMETHING, and frantically I Googled "paintings," resigned to another Van Gogh or Monet.

And I discovered Bonni Reid.