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      April 15, 2025Clayton E. ClarkThe Lifeguard Tower, Closed for Winter

      after a painting by James Clark (1956–2010)
       
      See that matador in the pastel colors
      of light. He strikes a fine figure ready
       
      to take on a bullfight. It might take
      a moment to notice, beyond the blue swirl
       
      of cape, his weapons are merely scissors
      and a comb. A magician, the artist, poised
       
      to cut and style. What can’t be seen is
      what I see, my brother’s long black coat
       
      that waves in the wind on that cold
      morning rising. See his dark, hard shoes
       
      sink in the sand on the beach where our
      family grew. This is where my sister and I
       
      release our mother’s ashes to the waves
      but my brother, the artist, seems a mosaic
       
      about to shatter. He just stands there—
       
      Untitled painting by James Clark
       
      Prompt: Write an ekphrastic poem based on a work of art by an artist that shares your first or last name.
       

      from Prompt Poem of the Month

      Comment from the series editor, Katie Dozier:

      “Death is one of the most common subjects for poetry and among the most difficult to write well. It is challenging both to sit down and actually put pen to page in the midst of tragedy, and then to craft a poem that expands our understanding of the topic. Through Clarke’s economy of language and brilliant extended metaphor, I found myself better equipped to explore loss. The ‘mosaic/about to shatter’ crushed me with an emotional truth: when we lose a loved one, our grief is compounded by every loss we have felt before.”

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