Image: “Conflict Resolution” by Aurore Uwase Munyabera. “Circles” was written by Nikita Parik for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, July 2020, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “A note included with the submission explained that this form is called AnthAdi, a style long-used in Tamizh literature, in which the variation of the ending word of the first stanza becomes the first word of the next stanza. I’d never heard of this form before, and I love the way the short lines move gracefully down the page—it sings with quiet introspection. But what made me keep coming back was the mystery of what the ‘single word’ might be. Especially when combined with the visual art, Nikita’s poem manages to tell a whole story without ever telling the story.”
Image: “Conflict Resolution” by Aurore Uwase Munyabera. “Stepfather” was written by Anna Cianciolo for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, July 2020, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.
Comment from the artist, Aurore Uwase Munyabera: “It was so hard to pick just one of these poems, but ultimately the one that really stayed with me was ‘Stepfather.’ It truly embodies the theme and meaning of ‘Conflict Resolution.’ The poem lyrically tells a story of conflict with death and embracing a new member to the family and in the dialogue of getting to know and love the new situation, there’s conflict resolution, with two rings symbolizing individuality fusing into unity. This poem is brilliant and beautifully written. I’m humbled and truly honored that my painting inspired this work.”
Image: “The Old Paper Mill” by Denise Sedor. “Upstate” was written by Marc Alan Di Martino for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, June 2020, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “I’m always a sucker for a sonnet, and like most of the best in the form, the final couplet is just wonderful. But I’d already fallen in love with this a few lines in: ‘Places like this exist for trains / to falter through.’ What a great description of the Rust Belt, which Denise Sedor’s painting so poignantly captures. That line and that great verb choice, ‘falter,’ took me straight back to my childhood in Western New York, and all those almost forgotten towns along Routes 5 & 20.”
Image: “The Old Paper Mill” by Denise Sedor. “Eulogy” was written by Brenda-Lee Ranta for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, June 2020, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.
Comment from the artist, Denise Sedor: “I picked ‘Eulogy’ as the poem to go with my painting because I felt it continued the narrative of life in an old mill. It perfectly captured the emotion of my painting by bringing to life the past inhabitants behind the worn-out, old abandoned walls of the the building of my image. It was simple, powerful, and beautifully written.”
“There Are Two of Us” by Vasvi KejriwalPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, May 2020: Editor’s Choice
Image: “Shadowplay” by Megan Merchant. “There Are Two of Us” was written by Vasvi Kejriwal for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, May 2020, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “I was fascinated with the way this tied together Megan Merchant’s photograph with Apocalypse Now—such an imaginative leap just in the premise of the poem, which quickly shifts into a scene of interior conflict over the nature of perception. And then what an ending. After selecting the poem, I realized Vasvi included a note that explains it all better than I ever could, so I’ll just include that.”
Vasvi Kejriwal: “This image took me back to the scene in the film, ‘Apocalypse Now’, between Martin Sheen and Aurore Clément. It is an interaction between two people: one person who has had to kill in him all scope of vulnerability to fight a war, and another person who is unafraid of revealing her own. I think, within all of us, we have two such people—this is a universal dialogue that is also an internal dialogue, which has unfolded within each one of us—at least at some point in our lives. I selected visual and conversational elements from this scene and juxtaposed it against Megan Merchant’s photograph. The smoky haze of the sky highlighted the clear cut outline of the bird in flight—as if the flight was the only certain feature in the image. I wanted to question this certainty by portraying how this itself is an illusion. There was also something about the element of flight in this photograph: although it evoked hope, it didn’t promise to solve anything. Through this poem, I’ve tried to capture this: one image can elicit a completely different response from two separate people. And at any one given time, a spectrum of responses resides within each of us. It is within our discretion: which response will be allowed to take control of our mind?”
Image: “Shadowplay” by Megan Merchant. “Copulations” was written by Marjorie Thomsen for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, May 2020, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.
Comment from the artist, Megan Merchant: “There is a sneaky joy and nostalgia at play in this poem that I really enjoyed, as well as the unexpected way the poem flows and connects—much like wings flapping.”
“The Larger Half” by Eric KilpatrickPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, April 2020: Artist’s Choice
Image: “Mund” by Laura R. McCullough. “The Larger Half” was written by Eric Kilpatrick for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, April 2020, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.
Comment from the artist, Laura R. McCullough: “When I took this photo, I was struck by the simple absurdity of it. As an artist and writer, I’m always looking for things that inspire me, or that somehow ‘stand out’ from the world going on as normal. My initial thoughts on the photo were fairly literal and one-dimensional, so I was excited to see how different writers brought such unique ideas and perspectives to their interpretations. In ‘The Larger Half,’ the poet has taken an unassuming and warm approach to a deep subject: the insecurity of parenting. In reality, that insecurity spans beyond just the experience of raising children; in a world of inequality, the unfair and the unsolvable, I think sometimes we are all left grappling with crumbs.”
