In his studio in the asylum at Saint Remy,the artist sets up his easel, takes a sheetof paper the size of a street poster (maybeit was once a poster), and attaches it,smooths it flat, arranges chalks, oils,watercolours and brushes.He chooses carefully, black chalkto sketch the window, a little off-centre.Light passes through the glass of jars,bottles […]
Tag: Ekphrastic poems
Woman with Flowered Hat
I cannot greet with nod of head,so I walk erect and smile insteadat passers-by who stop and stareat the flowered hat atop my hair.My neck is long, the hat is tall,I must beware in case it falls.Tottering along the crowded lanes,I dodge the parasols and canes;the flamboyant blossoms on my hatraise whispering and lots of […]
Matching – a poem on Visual Verse
After a couple of months of not responding to Visual Verse, I am delighted that they chose to include my poem on page 41 of the latest issue, Volume 10 Chapter 11. The image by Kitty Harrison x Dylan Sauerwein was an unusual one that inspired amazing prose and poetry, including some by familiar poets, including […]
Deirdre’s Accordian – a poem on Visual Verse
I am delighted that Visual Verse chose to include my poem on page 30 of the latest issue, Volume 10 Chapter 7. The image is not a modern or surreal one, as they often are, but a classical painting by John Everett Millais. It really caught my imagination and that of the other contributors. All the pieces, […]
Curators of the Night
They are busy on the night shift,dusting off star drift,polishing up the moon in all its forms.(It’s always being tarnished by space storms.) The library’s astronomerscans the sky for astral bodies, gathersmoons, and stars that fall to Earth,and shelves them until their monthly rebirth. They lend them out too,to people like me and you,romantics who […]
View from an Open Window
No curtains in this humble room,no fabric flapping on the breeze;a smudge of smoke in the distant gloomand a street devoid of birds and trees. The clouds are tinged with morning pink,a forecast of downpours yet to come;a thought to make my poor heart sinkand resolve to spend the day at home. This view of […]
If Only
I didn’t realise that one of my poems was published in the January issue of Visual Verse, Volume 10, Chapter 3.
November Morning
Tattered trees pose, stark in their tracery, leaves all fallen sopping to the ground without a sound. A thin veil of amber hints at a struggling sun behind the mist, a sensual bounty across town and country. Warning of the coming chill, frost and fog cover every hill, the muffled silence broken only by the […]
Leopards and Midnight Clouds
As anyone knows who visits my blog, I love all things feline, cats of all sizes and species. The image for Visual Verse Volume 9 Chapter 11 is a wonderful black and white print that looks like a lino cut by Omar Musa, which inspired me to write the poem that appears on page 28. There are […]
MIND THE GAP
The image for Visual Verse Volume 9 Chapter 10 was unusual and challenging, an image by John Crozier, which really appealed to me, as I’m originally from London. We are given only one hour to produce 50-500 ekphrastic words, so I am thrilled that my poem appears on page 7. If you want to read it first, […]
writing in north norfolk 