My Favorite Poem

Two weeks ago the eleventh annual My Favorite Poem event was held in Birmingham at the Alabama School of fine arts. We had people from many walks of life reading (see program notes below). It was my privilege to read "Conscientious Objector," by Edna St. Vincent Millay. The video of the readings has been posted on the Birmingham Arts Journal website at http://birminghamartsjournal.com/favorite.html. You may also see the entire event on the video below.

My Favorite Poem 2016 from AWC on Vimeo.




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Artsongs: Young Woman with a Water Pitcher (Vermeer)

The Welcoming Woman

How soft the glow she welcomes in

When sunlight fills the sky.

A hand upon the casement latch

Guides daybreak in the home.

She brings a pitcher to the room

With water from the well

To fill the family’s drinking cups

As slumber fades away.

The light is cast upon the world

Behind her on the wall

Yet in her mind she only sees

One household in her care.

Eternally the woman stands

Between the well and sun.

She quenches thirst and brings the light;

She makes the world secure.

In mythic constancy she shows
The path to life and love.
By holding joys and sorrows close,
She welcomes all she sees.

What other graces can be found

That woman’s hand brings forth?

Through all of life and all the world

Her presence guides the day. 

                                                         ~ CK

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Image: Young Woman with a Water Pitcher at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Artist: Jan Vermeer Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632–1675)
Date: ca. 1662
Medium: Oil on Canvas

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Index

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Artsongs Series

Artsongs

Poetry Inspired by Great Works of Art

Last year I did a series of ekphrastic poems inspired by an old Book-of-the-Month-Club selection, Portfolio of Art Masterpieces, Series IV that I happened to discover at our local library's used book sale. It was such a rewarding exercise that I decided to do it again. I went online and located the first volume of those Book-of-the-Month-Club collections, Portfolio of Art Masterpieces, Series I, and set it aside until the time was right.

Ekphrasis is a Greek term usually translated as "description." Ekphrastic poetry is an exercise that goes beyond mere description. It is an example of art inspiring art, or serving as a catalyst for creativity. An article at Poets.org, Ekphrasis: Poetry Confronting Art speaks of how ekphrasis has been used in poetry since the time of Homer. The article observes that "modern ekphrastic poems have generally shrugged off antiquity’s obsession with elaborate description, and instead have tried to interpret, inhabit, confront, and speak to their subjects." Ekphrastic poetry is one way to interpret, meditate upon, re-invent, or dialogue with a particular piece of art. (1)

It Came to Me in a Dream

I had a dream not long ago in which I was fervently in the process of writing something in response to something that I was watching. What I was watching was unclear, but what I was writing had a musical rhythm. When I awoke, I realized that my subconscious must be telling me that the time is right to start writing those poems in response to my collection of art re-prints.

The rhythm of the dream had such an effect upon me that I decided that I would try writing each poem in metered verse, but without rhyme. My hope was that having rhythm without rhyme would result in poetry that is less formal but still "weighty" in its presentation.

Bouncing Off the Artist's Creativity

I spent the summer months taking on a new poem each week. One thing about ekphrastic poetry is that by writing in response to a work of art, I write on subjects that I would ordinarily not choose to write about. It therefore becomes a challenge to stretch myself and my writing. Another thing is that I am given ideas by seeing what the artist has done that I might not otherwise have thought of. Moreover, I am responding to and interacting with that artist's own creativity. I think that such a process naturally allows one to tap into his own creativity. 

While some of the thoughts expressed in these poems are things I have considered before (but not said in exactly the same way) it is safe to say that I would not have come up with any of these poetic concepts without engaging in the artwork of the masters represented in the series.

This page will serve as an index. I will post a new poem each week, and as they are posted, there will be a hyperlink added to the titles below.

Artsongs

Young Woman with a Water Pitcher (Vermeer) –  “The Welcoming Woman”

Mme. Charpentier and Her Children (Renoir)  –  “The Well Ordered Home”

Portrait of George Washington (Stuart)  –  “The Old General”

Tahitian Landscape (Gauguin)  –   “Paradise Road”

Miss West (Lawrence)  –   “Woman of Substance”

Vase with Flowers (Redon)  –  “Redon’s Flowers”

Self Portrait (Rembrandt)  –  “Rembrandt at Forty-four”

The Flower Carrier (Rivera)  –  “Purchasing Joy”

The Harvesters (Bruegel) – “Daily Bread”

St. Martin and theBeggar (El Greco)  –   “Martin of Tours”

Two Harlequins (Picasso) –   “Nimble Harlequins”

Small Cowper Madonna (Raphael)  –   “Mother of God, Mother of Earth”

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1. From my essay, "Poetry Arising from Art," posted as an introduction to my first series of ekphrastic poems.