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      August 24, 2023Fighting the WindTeresa Breeden

      Image: “Here I Go” by Elizabeth Hlookoff. “Fighting the Wind” was written by Teresa Breeden for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, July 2023, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.
      The trick is not to.
      Not to struggle, thrusting
      the anvil of your
       
      body against the
      gale, not to compete, but to
      sway and bend, threading
       
      the edge of the air,
      welcoming dishevelment.
      Who is in charge of
       
      corralling the squall
      into meager breezes, these
      air conditioned spaces?
       
      Who is bold enough
      to slam open the windows
      let the shouting in?
       
      You want to be brave.
      But you yearn also to curl
      beneath the blanket
       
      of wind, a small fold,
      your breath a small sigh beneath
      the world’s loud exhale
       
      and also
      to be the window
      it shoves into and through, a
      portal for the sky.
       
      The wind reminds you
      of what you can be, tousled
      dismantled,
      a being
       
      that can continually
      be remade.

      from Ekphrastic Challenge

      Comment from the artist, Elizabeth Hlookoff

      “The poem grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. I’m a big proponent of the old ‘less is more’ adage. I love the spare, simple language the poet uses to convey a Zen like wisdom while invoking a way of being. I particularly love the line, welcoming dishevelment.’”