June 2015
Having published almost 1,000 poems, I have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net and the Rhysling Award. My poetry appears in print and online journals, anthologies and chapbooks throughout the world. In 2013, I published my first full-length collection, Parallels: Selected Ekphrastic Poetry, 2009-2012.
T W O E K P H R A S T I C P O E M S
based on paintings by Salvador Dali
Rotting Bird
Salvador Dali
mixed media/painting - 1928
Salvador Dali
mixed media/painting - 1928
Of ambivalence
self-absorption
an indignant fever
in its craw
of reckless flights
ferocity
as it soared above
dark seas
of petulance
and anomie
a sacrifice
extinction-bound
the old bird
feathers drooping
died
not a day
too soon
rotting
on the wing.
self-absorption
an indignant fever
in its craw
of reckless flights
ferocity
as it soared above
dark seas
of petulance
and anomie
a sacrifice
extinction-bound
the old bird
feathers drooping
died
not a day
too soon
rotting
on the wing.
Gradiva Becoming Fruits, Vegetables, Pork, Bread, and Grilled Sardine
Salvador Dali
watercolor - 1931
In the becoming of fruits,
the shaping of bread and grilled sardine,
Gradiva, the saint, the sorceress.
the transubstantive magician
who performs miracles of flesh
to asparagus and greens
becomes anything at all
whatever she dreams
whatever she wishes to eat
in the hunger that eats even herself
she becomes the eaten:
an apple, asparagus, butt of pork,
a slice of toast with the face of a goddess
or grilled sardine
her nature is transformed
to another more fit as a feast for the gods.
the shaping of bread and grilled sardine,
Gradiva, the saint, the sorceress.
the transubstantive magician
who performs miracles of flesh
to asparagus and greens
becomes anything at all
whatever she dreams
whatever she wishes to eat
in the hunger that eats even herself
she becomes the eaten:
an apple, asparagus, butt of pork,
a slice of toast with the face of a goddess
or grilled sardine
her nature is transformed
to another more fit as a feast for the gods.
©2015 Neil Ellman