Ekphrastic

  Solitude Bright Venus, crescent moon, faint pearl-gray sky obscurely light the scene. A giant dolmen prostrate, astride huge boulders:...

  Archaic Torso of Apollo by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) translated from German by Mary Jane Myers We'll never know...

  Three Kittens Went to Kitten-Garten Three kittens in kitten-garten. Whose teacher was a dog. They had to write their...

  On An Old Photograph It was late fall of 1944. Dad was back from Italy, on leave, When no...

  Clonmacnoise (Cluain Mhic Nóis) Rocky gray ruins, round tower stronghold, speckling a wide expanse of green, residuum of a...

. Esperanza Enticing in her yellow-bell couture, __She shimmers like the sun. With flirty puffs of pollen-pomp allure, __Her blossoms...

. Archaic Torso of Apollo by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) translated from German by Josh Olson We cannot know that...

. Young Catherine’s Vision ---on St. Catherine of Siena Invested with the Dominican Habit by Giovanni di Paola A maiden...

. Genevieve Perhaps those languid eyes are looking up At angels hymning in the dove-grey sky, So soft and saccharine...

. Healing by Heart Dear André, let me see your face And cry out with you to lament The rot...

. A Ballad of Life ---after Winslow Homer's "Through the Fields" They spoke of life unfolding, A future far from...

. At the Ready ---Distant Thunder, Andrew Wyeth (USA), 1961 The coming storm won’t let young Rattler lie asleep, but...

. Rattler ---inspired by Master Bedroom, Andrew Wyeth, 1965 The walls and windows unadorned, the bedkept neatly made, the blanket...

. The Adoration of the Peacock ---on The Adoration of the Magi by Fra Angelico and Fra Filippo Lippi The...

. On Learning of a Lover’s Death Your parting words were not exactly nice, But when I read the news...

. A Remarkable Day "He's God in human form!" whispers the crowd In motley clothes and groups of twos and...

. Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, Loved by the Viewer and the Baronet The lady wanted prettiness and style. (The artist...

. Jehu Destroys the Temple and Statue of Baäl "—What did that madman want?" ---2 Kings 9:11 He saw Jehu...

. Bright Light, Some City "It's probably a reflection of my own, if I may say, loneliness. I don't know....

. Endless Dreaming a villanelle I lunge ahead in bed and start to scream. The nightmare’s end is far; I’m...

. Three Views of Venus "When you’ve got a goddess, make good use of her. —local guide, Green Velvet Bedchamber...

. The Sultan’s Aging Son Recalls the Hippo Hunt “The Hippopotamus Hunt” by Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1615-1616 “The sultan...

. Easter Evening Appearance Luke 24 Sealed up within my upper room, Absorbed by morbid discontent And fear, I questioned...

. Two Ekphrastic Poems . The Light of the World, Holman Hunt As predawn darkness shrouds the land, With warm-lit...

. . Massacre of the Innocents Matt. 2:18, 10:28, 18:10; Psalm 116:15; 2 Mac. 7:29 Why are the fish and...

. Two Dragon Statues Tây Hồ, Hà Nội, Việt Nam, Constructed 2012 They stand on waves just off West Lake’s...

. Phil S. Rogers captured these photos of a roadrunner seeking relief in his sprinkler during drought-like conditions in Texas....

. Something Higher the brown scapular of Elijah Departures and arrivals. Passengers. The life of one old man describes an...

. My Favourite Photo of Mum I’ve just found my favourite photo of Mum, standing in the snow of a...

. Quattrocento On the Fresco “Madonna del Parto” by Piero della Francesca, Monterchi, Italy, circa 1460 We file into a...

. A Picture of Repose A young boy’s seated on a wall that overlooks Capri, an oil painting by Dane...

. Old Orphan They’re over on my dresser, simply framed And looking 1940s fresh and young. There’s something to them...

. . On Alma Tadema’s Coign of Vantage Flora peeks over the marble parapet, a dizzying perch above the azure...

. See the painting more closely here. Eden The newborn world is all aswirl with beasts Obedient who, as God...

. On Ford Madox Brown's "The Last of England" Their balcony beringed with cabbages, They fix their eyes on the...

. This photo comes to us from Joshua C. Frank of Texas. Write an ekphrastic poem based on it and...

. Tapestry My grandfather Evangelos did trading with the Turks Of pipes and hookahs, hash, and cloths, and skillful carpet-works....

. The Angelus, Jean-François Millet (Musée d’Orsay) How soft across the field the muted peal Has caromed off the setting...

. Who Bled When all is said and life be trod, One takeaway the Son of God Made clear, when...

. Moments in Marble from Michelangelo’s sculptures; above from left are depicted Dusk, Dawn, Night, and Day Day hustles up,...