“Sometimes a Man Has to Get His Hands Dirty” by Alexandre MikanoPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, February 2019: Editor’s Choice
Image: “Work Gloves” by Justin Hamm. “Sometimes a Man Has to Get His Hands Dirty” was written by Alexandre Mikano for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, February 2019, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “Often I end up choosing a poem that takes the month’s image in some new and surprising direction, but this month the opposite is true. Alexandre Mikano went exactly where my mind goes when looking at this photograph, and were hundreds of other poets’ minds went, too—a kind of gritty love poem for a father figure—but he did it with such fine grace and detailed precision that it stood out among all the other poems nonetheless. This strikes me as a perfect embodiment of the image and the feelings it evokes.”
“Tan Hides and Hard Stuff” by Lisha NasipakPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, February 2019: Artist’s Choice
Image: “Work Gloves” by Justin Hamm. “Tan Hides and Hard Stuff” was written by Lisha Nasipak for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, February 2019, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.
Comment from the artist, Justin Hamm: “When I took the picture of the work glove, a number of possible stories passed though my head. This was not one of them. Reading ‘Tan Hides and Hard Stuff’ changed how I looked at the picture, made me see it in a way that wouldn’t have occurred to me. The poem took personal ownership over the glove; it became less my photograph and more an menacing artifact of the speaker’s trauma. The poet here explores the appearance and purpose of the glove and uses those to communicate what the father is and what he is not by comparison. And all this with formal concision. I admire and am moved by this poem very much.”
“My Mother Was a Dancer and She Never Looked Back” by Luigi CoppolaPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, January 2019: Editor’s Choice
Image: “Belle of the Ball” by Vasu Tolia. “My Mother Was a Dancer and She Never Looked Back” was written by Luigi Coppola for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, January 2019, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “This poem is just flawlessly beautiful. A single sentence—14 lines including the title—flowing seamlessly down the page without a single misplaced word toward meaningful revelation. Don’t turn your head or you’ll miss it.”
“Self-Portrait” by Rodrigo Dela Pena, Jr.Posted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, January 2019: Artist’s Choice
Image: “Belle of the Ball” by Vasu Tolia. “Self-Portrait” was written by Rodrigo Dela Pena, Jr. for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, January 2019, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.
Comment from the artist, Vasu Tolia: “I felt like ‘Self-Portrait’ recreated the magic I had felt conceiving and creating this painting. The way this poet captures the lines depicting the blur and sharpness and describes the hues of the paints so vividly in simple words touched me the most. The poise, purpose, and dilemma in this woman’s mind are also beautifully blended in this poem. It opened my eyes to the notion that unconsciously, I was portraying a version of myself.”
“Shell Thick and Her Own Planet” by Angie MasonPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, December 2018: Editor’s Choice
Image: “Untitled” by Kari Gunter-Seymour. “Shell Thick and Her Own Planet” was written by Angie Mason for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, December 2018, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “My favorite ekphrastic poems are often those that spin the image into an entire world, and Angie Mason manages to do that here in just eighteen slender lines. As in the photograph, we never see the couple whose life as a pair revolves around the planet of the egg, but we can feel the weight of what’s coming. And those line breaks! Each turn is a new crack. The free verse is still verse.”
Ekphrastic Challenge, December 2018: Artist’s Choice
Image: “Untitled” by Kari Gunter-Seymour. “Substance” was written by Peg Duthie for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, December 2018, and selected as the Artist’s Choice.
Comment from the artist, Kari Gunter-Seymour: “Full disclosure: I was secretly hoping for a poem that was not so obviously about an egg or the carton, or for that matter a womb or chicken. Maybe a poem that discussed texture or extremes of angle and light, as those topics often come up in conversation about this image at exhibitions. A poem that was not above roaming beyond the edges of the photograph. ‘Substance’ does all that. It dances me in and out of the frame, asks the timeless question, discusses each element so cleverly ‘a creamy complexion—,’ ‘the coarse-and-homely,’ the ‘graying angles and curves’ and lands so solid ‘… a tested cradle/ the invisible hands …’ I could go on and on. Brava!”
Ekphrastic Challenge, November 2018: Editor’s Choice
Image: “Eat Me” by Nicolette Daskalakis. “The Happy Game” was written by Sean Kelbley for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, November 2018, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “’The Happy Game’ is so imaginative I don’t think even kids could have invented it. The world of these 21 couplets is so rich in detail it feels as though you could walk right in—even the supporting characters seem real, as much as I hope they aren’t. It’s a poem that could have been a screenplay—all in a two-minute read. There were a lot of excellent poems submitted this month, but none more memorable.”
