“Seeking Purpose” by Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, December 2019: Editor’s Choice
Image: “Bound” by Natalie Seabolt. “Seeking Purpose” was written by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, December 2019, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.
The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself. It is not in your environment; it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others; it is in yourself alone.
—Orison Swett Marden
There were no letters tucked in the trees today,
no handwritten notes tied with red string.
No epistles, no missives, no communiques.
Some days, a woman wishes the world
would be more direct, more intimate, would just tell her
her purpose, would spell it out in a language she knows.
Include sketches, clear directives. Write her name
on the envelopes so there can be no mistake.
Leave the letters in a place she will find them.
But no. Today, the only message in the trees
is snow. She tries to make meaning of it.
Laughs at the impulse. Reminds herself, Snow is snow.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “Maybe it’s that the photograph is so straightforward, but turning it into an image of what isn’t there was a brilliant choice that pushes the original content even further. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the universe really did send us messages this clear? But of course it doesn’t, a truth that now feels oddly empowering, thanks to the subtle tone of the poem. Let’s go out and make some meaning of our own.”
“Greetings Unanswered” by Joshua MartinPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, December 2019: Artist’s Choice
Image: “Bound” by Natalie Seabolt. “Greetings Unanswered” was written by Joshua Martin for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, December 2019, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.
Comment from the artist, Natalie Seabolt: “I chose ‘Greetings Unanswered’ because it speaks to a past that is worn and aged, a past that craves to be remembered, a past that has become letters with a hunger all their own. The poem’s language is hungry and wary of how past and present can switch places. The letters of the poem feel kin to those in my photograph—letters that exist in a dimension of urgency, lingering around the speaker’s presence whispering of their importance, but lost to those to whom they were delivered.”
Ekphrastic Challenge, November 2019: Editor’s Choice
Image: “Dog Walking” by Alice Pettway. “A Caricature” was written by Bola Opaleke for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, November 2019, and selected as the Editor’s Choice. (PDF / JPG)
__________
Bola Opaleke
A CARICATURE
Where I came from,
the street is another religion
& my feet know
all its worship songs
by heart. It effuses a silence that arouses
the slumbering houses;
make me watch their breasts as they rise
& fall. My moment
of peace & tranquility is
when I can look the most human
behind the chromatic harmony
of car honks. Am I not a common sight, marveled
at colors; yellow grass, green trees,
red flowers? I know whatever is not black
or white begs another name. & before I got pollinated
inside this religion, I developed a new body
which blinks only once a day like the streetlamp
of a graveyard. Surrounded
by shadows, I am not as lonely as people
think. I have a skeleton dog lost to the street as I.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “The power of this poem lives within the title that undercuts it. As I read, I get lost in this idea of the street as a religion. I’m lulled by the blinking streetlamp in a graveyard and forget that what I’m lulled by is only a caricature—and that was always the tension within the photograph: that interplay between the scene and our interpretation of it. This is a poem with several layers of meaning, about the scene, about ourselves as viewers, and about the power of narrative to cloud our thinking.”
“The Anatomy of Endings” by Anoushka SubbaiahPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, November 2019: Artist’s Choice
Image: “Dog Walking” by Alice Pettway. “The Anatomy of Endings” was written by Anoushka Subbaiah for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, November 2019, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.
Comment from the artist, Alice Pettway: “‘The Anatomy of Endings’ doesn’t seek to duplicate the photo but instead builds its own city of imperfections: a dog shot through a metal carcass, a stranger with an oil-lamp face, stubs of grief plucked from dirt. The poem captures the unease of street photography, which is so often the ‘dull hurt’ of ‘walking against such ordinary beauty.’”
“After the Extinction” by Susan Carroll JewellPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, October 2019: Editor’s Choice
Image: “Brainyo” by Dana St. Mary. “After the Extinction” was written by Susan Carroll Jewell for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, October 2019, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “As you might imagine, the entries this month ranged from dark to disturbing, as poets wrestled with what must be described as a portrait of cosmic madness. Susan Carroll Jewell took that task the farthest, imagining a feature in which we only exist as the echo of our emptiness. It’s a poem rich with images, each strong line more haunting than the last.”
“The Metamorphosis of Gregor Samsa and My Grandpa” by Jaime MeraPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, October 2019: Artist’s Choice
Image: “Brainyo” by Dana St. Mary. “The Metamorphosis of Gregor Samsa and My Grandpa” was written by Jaime Mera for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, October 2019, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.
Comment from the artist, Dana St. Mary: “This is a near perfect poem. I can read it multiple times and get more each time. Kafka helped form me as a young reader, so this poem spoke to me especially. It is simply horrific in the finest way. A good reflection of the madness in my picture.”
“Artifacts from the Buffalo Trunk Mfg. Co. (Defunct)” by Rachel WeltonPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, September 2019: Artist’s Choice
Image: “Loss for Words” by Asher ReTech. “Artifacts from the Buffalo Trunk Mfg. Co. (Defunct)” was written by Rachel Welton for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, September 2019, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.
Comment from the artist, Asher ReTech: “I think endings are as important as the beginnings. How a thing closes, how an event is finalised, how we say goodbye, is just as critical as how it all began. I like to explore abandoned places because they are full of stories, the last bastion of final notes. The image of carrying grief with you to a new place, for me, was melancholy without being maudlin. If anything this is admitting the truth of what we all do. We carry bits of bad memories attached to things we should have long since discarded. I was struck by how many poems used the suitcase as metaphor for immigration, while poignant and well written, they did not strike the same chord for me as “Artifacts”. They were emotionally strong but my personal bias certainly kept me closer to this one. Very few poems had the actual context of the suitcase, not that I expected them to. But it was interesting to see how others saw this moment versus the actual location and what I found. One poem spoke of a house fire and the collapse of the building, which was eerily accurate. In the end, however, after reading them all several times, I kept coming back to the final lines of ‘Artifacts’ and I loved them. There is a real sense of connection with the past. It’s an honest embrace of the good and bad. I look to the old places and things seeking that connection too. There’s a grace in holding onto your personal context and a dignity in not hiding from sadness that sometimes comes from that.”
