Ekphrastic Challenge, May 2017: Artist’s Choice
Image: “The Pink Bird Corridor” by Soren James. “Birds of a Feather” was written by Lianne Kamp for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, May 2017, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.
__________
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
And this, my friend,
is how the end is
determined to find us—
after eons of evolution,
after miraculous miles
of twisting DNA,
trailing through the
telescopic corridors
and the electric synopsis—
to be pared down
to the bare bones,
to be stripped of
all our trappings
like so many proud
peacocks unaware
that their plumage
has fallen away
—Ekphrastic Challenge, May 2017
Artist’s Choice
__________
Comment from the artist, Soren James, on this selection: “From a wonderfully diverse collection of poems, I’ve chosen one that I found perhaps the most concise—its pared style echoing its meaning. Philosophically rich, the poem covers a surprising amount of ground—from genial opening to abstract comment on everything—in less than a hundred words. Loved it.”
