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      August 20, 2020StepfatherAnna Cianciolo

      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.
      Two rings.
       
      The man who answers
      your call
      has a soft, Texan drawl.
       
      Mom is out. He asks
      how you are doing.
       
      You think: Dad
      must have had a
      Midwestern accent, but
      for forty-some years you failed
      to notice, and now you can’t
      remember
      his voice, like Dad couldn’t
      remember you
      in the end.
       
      The Texan man makes mom
      coffee, and
      they drink together,
      on quiet mornings, before
      church
      or bowling
      or packing lunches for the poor.
      Once, in haste, they left
       
      two rings
       
      on the table. For their wedding,
      you painted them
      mugs—
      one “Mr.” and one “Mrs.”
       
      The Texan man knows you
      and he both love
      peanut butter, and (Mom,
      if she would let him!)
      he would give you the jar
      and a spoon, and
      you two
      would eat it together, like kids
      eating ice cream.
       
      People say: Dad
      would have wanted Mom
      to be happy, probably
      like the Texan man’s wife
      would have wanted him
      to be happy. But
      those loved ones
       
      have passed
      on, and survival is the matter
      at hand—gripping
      what’s left of a life with
      a hole in the middle, and
      throwing it out
       
      to each other,
       
      two rings.

      from Ekphrastic Challenge
      July 2020, 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.”

      from Ekphrastic Challenge

      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.”