Poem for a Cloud

Cloud Shadows - Ruth Beeve

Poem for a Cloud 

Lovely, luscious cloud,

let me dream awhile

in your soft, goddess hair, 

   

float over hills and trees

as you flirt with the sun— 

the green valleys below 

marbled with light and shadow.

When you race other clouds

across the sky,

you are a wild mare

dappled with grey,

long mane streaming

behind you.

Let’s fly on the wind,

chase shadows all afternoon.

Johanna Ely

© 2022

••••••••••

The Benicia First Tuesday Poets’ Group and members of Benicia Literary Arts have written ekphrastic poems about paintings from our show, Watercolor - A Happy Medium.

Ekphrastic poems are vivid verbal descriptions of a work of art. Fifteen different poets each came to the aRt Cottage to pick one pieces from each of the 15 artists in the show. We'll be sharing the poetry here on the blog over the next several days - enjoy!

Poem: White Rose in Winter

White Roses - Iretta Hunter

White Rose in Winter

Café courtyard.  Cold afternoon.  

Shivering.  Tepid tea. 

I did not know she watched me.

The pen in my hand dropped…

as I picked it up, 

her gaze pierced mine.  

Translucent porcelain white petals, 

blooming amidst barren stumps 

and thorns sleeping until

the wine of springtime.  

Who knew a confetti of detours 

and loss tossed by pandemic 

into the universe of upheaval

would bring us together.  

Me, waiting for grey clouds 

to rain a poem; a white rose 

holding onto an untimely gift 

of life not unlike mine,

a transient chance to begin again.

Georgette Howington
© 2022

••••••••••

The Benicia First Tuesday Poets’ Group and members of Benicia Literary Arts have written ekphrastic poems about paintings from our show, Watercolor - A Happy Medium.

Ekphrastic poems are vivid verbal descriptions of a work of art. Fifteen different poets each came to the aRt Cottage to pick one pieces from each of the 15 artists in the show. We'll be sharing the poetry here on the blog over the next several days - enjoy!

Poem: The Emerald Pool

The Emerald Pool - Linda Sutton

The Emerald Pool

It pools so slowly
reaching upward toward earth's sky

A deep source
underneath, needing a place to fly

Consider please
this water, with a so nascent eye,

in its own space,
precious, save it, conscious of why.


Carole Dwinell
© 2022

••••••••••

The Benicia First Tuesday Poets’ Group and members of Benicia Literary Arts have written ekphrastic poems about paintings from our show, Watercolor - A Happy Medium.

Ekphrastic poems are vivid verbal descriptions of a work of art. Fifteen different poets each came to the aRt Cottage to pick one pieces from each of the 15 artists in the show. We'll be sharing the poetry here on the blog over the next several days - enjoy!

Poem: Vacaville

Cows in the Shade - Samantha McNally

 

Vacaville

Cow candy on slippery slopes
bending and waving with the wind
growing grand in glades and valleys
Black bovine indulging in
abundant amethyst
such
plentiful hors d’oeuvres
such
plentiful hors d’oeuvres
slow cows with proud heads
basking in the morning sun
with
long, lazy tongues
that lick and linger
over
lavender lollipops and
lilac snacks
savoring the bon bons
between
blades of grass
udderly delicious


Genea Brice
© 2022

••••••••••

The Benicia First Tuesday Poets’ Group and members of Benicia Literary Arts have written ekphrastic poems about paintings from our show, Watercolor - A Happy Medium.

Ekphrastic poems are vivid verbal descriptions of a work of art. Fifteen different poets each came to the aRt Cottage to pick one pieces from each of the 15 artists in the show. We'll be sharing the poetry here on the blog over the next several days - enjoy!

Poem: Early Fall

Through the Persimmon Leaves - Stephen Berry

 

Early Fall

The persimmons are harvested.
Ruddle leaves mingle with myrtle hue.
Mount Diablo huddles distant,
encircled in jade and blue.

This enchanted portal,
dozy warm delicious,
brings to mind honeyed birdsong,
amidst pollen-laden bombilation in
rosemary and sage.

Below, discordant rage
of highway hum.
The cacophony
we humans stage,
I choose to ignore.


Becky Bishop White
©2022 

••••••••••

The Benicia First Tuesday Poets’ Group and members of Benicia Literary Arts have written ekphrastic poems about paintings from our show, Watercolor - A Happy Medium.

Ekphrastic poems are vivid verbal descriptions of a work of art. Fifteen different poets each came to the aRt Cottage to pick one pieces from each of the 15 artists in the show. We'll be sharing the poetry here on the blog over the next several days - enjoy!

Poem: Signs

Brittany Patterns - Juanita Hagberg

Signs

Water finds its own path, snaking through soil and reeds
to pattern land with runnels and shift the shore
with ebb and flow, fresh and salt meeting in marshes,
those intertidal habitats that crucible life.

The world shows water where to flow, gravity, moon,
and centrifugal force its guideposts. Rain falls, a brook
ripples round rocks or tumbles down steep scarps
in a roar. Misty plumes rise like hot-air balloons.

Oceans rise and fall, high tide, low tide, neap tide,
slack water, currents swirling where they will.
Water tunes to the world, follows the path
that serves it best.

I follow arrows on the trail, hiking up the hill as the creek
tumbles down, seeking the crest and the source
of the water. When I reach a fork with no arrow,
I listen to the water and know which to take.


Aline Soules
©2022

••••••••••

The Benicia First Tuesday Poets’ Group and members of Benicia Literary Arts have written ekphrastic poems about paintings from our show, Watercolor - A Happy Medium.

Ekphrastic poems are vivid verbal descriptions of a work of art. Fifteen different poets each came to the aRt Cottage to pick one pieces from each of the 15 artists in the show. We'll be sharing the poetry here on the blog over the next several days - enjoy!

Poem: From the Shadow of my Lover

Dreaming of a Jaguar - Bonnie Fry

From the Shadow of My Lover

When I sleep, my lover’s shadow reveals his power. 

With hundreds of eyes he sees what danger lurks.    

When I sleep, his protection covers like a blanket.      

He slips silently through city or country jungle

To drink from the emerging fresh fountain of magic water.

From his underworld kingdom he carries dreams of riches.  

No one else sees such a treasure hidden or suspects it.

When I sleep, he shows me riches, how to claim them,

Make them visible, tangible, audible, and spendable,

Make them palpable in the waking world we share.

Aikya Param

© 2022

••••••••••

The Benicia First Tuesday Poets’ Group and members of Benicia Literary Arts have written ekphrastic poems about paintings from our show, Watercolor - A Happy Medium.

Ekphrastic poems are vivid verbal descriptions of a work of art. Fifteen different poets each came to the aRt Cottage to pick one pieces from each of the 15 artists in the show. We'll be sharing the poetry here on the blog over the next several days - enjoy!