Hello, beautiful readers! I've chosen to combine two prompts today. The first is from Moonwashed Weekly Prompt where Eugi encourages us to use one or more of the words below to inspire us. I've bolded and italicized the words I chose to use.
observant and swift
simplicity summoned
unpretending
The other comes from dVerse: Poets Pub. Melissa Lemay provides us with several pictures and asked us to write an ekphrastic poem incorporating color and any feelings the art evokes. We are to give the artwork a story.
I chose the picture below and decided to write a tanka, which is a five-lined poem that has a 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic pattern. The third line is considered the pivot, though it can happen at any time in the poem.
(image credit; Emil Nolde painting)
tumultuous seas
cragged rocks promise swift death
sailors plead mercy
observant fiery red sky
prayers heard, ship veers away
Melissa then encouraged us to read an article about the artist and his alignment with Nazis and his attempt to later lie about his support for that regime. It speaks of his personality and how his ill-tempered and loud ego was abhorred and how he chose to blame others for his failures. She then asked us to write an 'after' poem about the artwork. I chose to write an abhanga for my second poem. Abhanga poems have four lines with a 6-6-6-4 stanza, where the two middle lines rhyme.
She also asked a series of questions, so here are my answers. 1) This information made me want to not promote this artwork. Instead, I share it to acknowledge that we find ourselves in perilous times once again with people choosing to lie and hurt others to be in power. 2) The image still is turbulent to me, but now it has a deeper meaning. My focus still ends with the light. 3) I believe what we create is a part of us, but I also believe art can stand alone, separate from its maker.
Snakeskin Sheds
political turmoil
lies ride the waves with wind
fiery light will exscind
truth will bring calm
Would you like to write a poem for one of these prompt? Click the links below:
Hi Yvette, two thought provoking poems Robbie
ReplyDeleteThank you, Robbie! I appreciate you stopping by. :-)
Deletehi there! i love your tanka poem-- beautifully written. and bravo for also writing a second follow-up poem. well done.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Pink! I appreciate your visit. :-)
DeleteIt’s amazing to me that you told the story twice, first without any knowledge of the artist. It makes me think we really do transmit some of ourselves into our work. Thanks for joining in, Yvette.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Melissa! We cannot help but to include a part of us in our work. Thanks for such an interesting prompt. :-)
DeleteThe last poem is so appropriate for today's troubled times, Yvette. Great use of the prompts!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jan! I found a lot of correlation with this artist and our current leaders. Thanks for stopping by. :-0
DeleteWell done, Yevette. I agree with your assessment of the artwork.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I appreciate you visiting. :-)
DeleteI really like your first poem, your reflections, and how your second poem changed as a result of your evolved position (knowledge of the artist's transgressions). You laid it out so clearly. Bravo.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kim! I appreciate you stopping by. :-)
DeleteAmen to the Abhanga's last line 🙏
ReplyDeleteWe can only hope! Thanks for visiting, Reena! :-)
DeleteI like both your poems Yvette and the second resonates with my response to the next dVerse prompt - https://how-would-you-know.com/2025/02/a-warning-to-the-witless.html
ReplyDeleteThank you, Andrew! It does resonate! I guess great minds think alike. ;-) Thanks for sharing! :-)
DeleteI love both poems, Yvette, but the second one truly resonates. 💞
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lauren! I appreciate you stopping by. :-)
DeleteStunning post, Yvette with two beautifully written poems. Superb take on the prompts. - Eugi
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eugi! I'm happy you enjoyed them. Thanks for stopping by. :-)
DeleteBoth your tankas provoke an anticipated outcome of mercy, the first one seem more fictionak the second more timely.
ReplyDeleteBravo!!
Thanks for dropping by my blog
Much♡love
Thank you, Gillena! I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. :-)
DeleteDankeschön für die Worte. Liebe Grüße Elise 🙂
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Elise! Thanks for visiting! :-)
DeleteLove the take on the challenges, Yvette! I do hope with truth calm comes. Xo
ReplyDeleteI am hoping the same, Denise! Thanks for stopping by. :-)
DeleteLove those tankas. The second spoke to me as a metaphor for the past and the present. I like the way you wove them and the economy of the words chosen.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Paul! I appreciate your visit. :-)
DeleteLove how you can combine two prompts. Very difficult for me.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Indira! Sometimes, it's hard to make different prompts work together. I appreciate you stopping by. :-)
DeleteWell done with the prompts, Yvette!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susi! I appreciate your visiting. :-)
DeleteIt is interesting how polularity can wane in politics, especially when promises turn out to be blatant lies. It is diffitcult to see how some people can be easily swayed. Yes I think art can stand without explaination. Good news is powerful news.
ReplyDeleteLovely writing in all of your verses.
Thank you, Jules! I appreciate you stopping by. :-)
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