An Ekphrastic Journey

Posted on December 6, 2022December 6, 2022 by Robert Eck

I have not written a post since February 2, 2022 — 10 months ago, mostly to mourn the loss of a sibling and to serve as Personal Representative for the estate. Though writing no posts, I dabbled in writing poetry as a diversion.

And so, as I tip-toe back, rusty and topic-less, I refer readers to my earlier post “Random Reverie” of January 10, 2018, which discusses my first attempt to write poetry, concluding with “A Framed Print.” Essentially, while resting on a comfortable couch, I imagined myself walking within a landscape print, hung over a mantle, noting my senses and reactions Since then, I have immersed myself into other works of art, writing lines that occurred to me during the process. It stimulates and awakens use of language in a most economical fashion.

Ekphrastic defined: “A literary description or commentary on a visual work of art.” (Merrium-Webster dictionary.) An Ekphrastic poem, therefore, focuses on something like a painting, photograph or sculpture, and enjoys a long history, going at least as far back to The Iliad of Homer (born 8th century BC), who describes Achilles shield in detail. (Wikipedia, Shield of Achilles.) In an ekphrastic poem, the poet consults a work of art, and creates a poem about it. It can simply describe the image itself, or relate to a thought or feeling emanating from it, with no constraining rules, hinging on rhyme, meter or form.

I started composing Ekphrastic poems, mostly as a writing exercise. Subjects for poetry never came easily to me, so I needed help in selecting topics. A picture introduces a visual topic with potentially multifold approaches to address it. To aid my new venture, I participated in a monthly Ekphrastic poetry contest, not only to provide the topic, but also to observe the winning poems, as a training method. I neither won a prize nor honorable mention, but enjoyed the challenge of writing something about the look or feel of the visual work before me.

Unfortunately, because all the pictorial works are subject to the US Copyright laws, I cannot reproduce the picture to aid the reader, who will be left to his or her imagination. So I am relegated to writing a brief description of the visual, followed by my amateurish attempt to craft a poem about it.

Description: A photograph of an open egg carton depicting a single egg set in one of the corners. My Ekphrastic offering below:

Breakfast Dilemma

Early to rise,
Breakfast awaits
What to consume?
How ‘bout some eggs

Open the carton,
One egg remains
In the end slot
Last of the line.

Fresh or not so?
Test if it floats.
A bad omen
Or foul ovum?

One egg to cook
Hard boil and peel?
Soft boil for cup?
Poach, if I dare?

Scramble, masks flaws.
Sunny side up?
Over easy?
Baste in the pan?

Wish I had two.
No omelet today!
Need more than one.
Eat something else.

There you have it. An Ekphrastic poem about an unusual visual. Surely, it will not achieve literary acclaim, which was not my goal. It was challenging and fun to write, and hopefully entertaining to read.