Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer: “I have long had a love affair with nothing—and so it was that when my friend Holiday Mathis sent me this article about an Italian sculptor who sold an ‘immaterial sculpture’ for over $18,000, well, it thrilled me. It’s so absurd. I have honored it with a wordless poem now featured in an invisible book on my shelves which you can buy for only $10,000 (OBO)—and with this poem, too.” (web)
Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer: “I think of all the ways that this one woman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, changed the world as we know it now. ‘Fight for the things you care about,’ she said, ‘but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.’ Yes. Yes. Thank you, RBG, for teaching us another way to fight.” (web)
“Seeking Purpose” by Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, December 2019: Editor’s Choice
Image: “Bound” by Natalie Seabolt. “Seeking Purpose” was written by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, December 2019, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.
The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself. It is not in your environment; it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others; it is in yourself alone.
—Orison Swett Marden
There were no letters tucked in the trees today,
no handwritten notes tied with red string.
No epistles, no missives, no communiques.
Some days, a woman wishes the world
would be more direct, more intimate, would just tell her
her purpose, would spell it out in a language she knows.
Include sketches, clear directives. Write her name
on the envelopes so there can be no mistake.
Leave the letters in a place she will find them.
But no. Today, the only message in the trees
is snow. She tries to make meaning of it.
Laughs at the impulse. Reminds herself, Snow is snow.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “Maybe it’s that the photograph is so straightforward, but turning it into an image of what isn’t there was a brilliant choice that pushes the original content even further. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the universe really did send us messages this clear? But of course it doesn’t, a truth that now feels oddly empowering, thanks to the subtle tone of the poem. Let’s go out and make some meaning of our own.”
Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer: “It was so thrilling to hear about the Voyager 2 and its travels beyond the heliosphere. Imagine! Out where matter is made from other stars that exploded 5-15 million years ago! But when NPR broke it down in numbers, trying to make the Voyager 2’s feat more accessible, the numbers were still too large to mean anything to me, so I figured I’d find ways to make the numbers more personal.” (web)
“After Cleaning the Kitchen Again, He Realizes” by Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, July 2017: Editor’s Choice
Image: “Portrait of a Kitchen” by Samantha Gee. “After Cleaning the Kitchen Again, He Realizes” was written by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, July 2017, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green, on this selection: “Samantha Gee’s painting generated a wide range of responses—some saw nostalgic breakfasts, others saw the loneliness of retirement, and many saw ghosts, which was surprising, because I don’t see ghosts at all. Very few of the 300 entries were love poems, though. Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer hooked me with that first line, which does indeed ‘sound so obvious’—so simple and wise that I think I must have read it before, but it turns out no one has. Lines like that are rare, as are fresh and authentic love poems like these. It fit the painting, and lifted my spirits, frankly. I hope it lifts yours, too.”
“Divining” by Rosemerry Wahtola TrommerPosted by Rattle
Ekphrastic Challenge, November 2015: Editor’s Choice
Painting by Meghan Tutolo. “Divining” was written by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, November 2015, and selected by Timothy Green as the Editor’s Choice winner.
Comment from the editor, Timothy Green: “Quite simply, this is one of the most beautiful poems I’ve read in a while. Those last two lines demand to be re-read aloud. The poem is also clearly a genuine meditation on the painting, evoking both the overall emotion of the image, and being attentive to the finer details. The one expands upon the other, making them a perfect pair.”
