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      October 31, 2022FibersAshley Caspermeyer

      Image: “Take Heart” by Bonnie Riedinger. “Fibers” was written by Ashley Caspermeyer for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, September 2022, and selected as the Editor’s Choice. (PDF / JPG)
      Mustard.
      My silk dress.
      My mother’s voice
      tickles my memory.
      You should have changed.
      I’m a crack in the sidewalk
      noticed for the wrong reasons
      avoided at the cost—
      of ruining something beautiful.
      Tackle the stain before it sets.
      Blot out your mistake before
      it seeps into the delicate fabric
      of what you’re remembered for.
      My fingers tremble at the task.
      My cautious smear paints
      the blue poppies in pollen,
      penetrating their petals,
      heavy with the weight
      of living.
       

      —from Ekphrastic Challenge
      September 2022, Editor’s Choice

      __________

      Comment from the editor, Megan O’Reilly: 

      from Ekphrastic Challenge

      Comment from the editor, Megan O'Reilly

      “Both the craft and emotion of Bonnie Riedinger’s painting are delicately reflected in Ashley Caspermeyer’s ‘Fibers.’ As the painting ebbs and flows visually, the structure and music of the poem moves with it. The imagistic contrast of yellow and blue is beautifully suggested in lines like ‘ruining something beautiful’ and ‘petals/heavy.’ While each piece is strong on its own, together they create an elegant, resonant harmony.”

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