On Sunday afternoon ten poets gathered to learn about ekphrastic poetry from writer-in-residence Yvonne Blomer. How might visual art be a catalyst for creating poetry?

The sky was a little hazy. The shredded remains of a wasp’s nest hung above us in the rafters of the shed. We began by looking closely at a pencil drawing by Sarah McLoughlin. The sketch shows a weathered stump out of which a few stems of beach grass are growing, their leaning angular shapes revealing the presence of a southeast wind. A dark sea and mountains are visible in the background.

Some examples of what came out of this first prompt:

S.O.S.

by Kelly Madden

He could not
find anything
tall enough
for a flag - an S.O.S
so he arranged
the grasses
just so-
perhaps
a passing ship
would see

this part
of the beach
was sketched
long after
he decided
to swim across
in search
of fresh water

Persistence

by Marvin Haave

Life persists
persists in presence of water and air,
persists in old rotting stump,
persists by means of rotting stump
that freely gives of self
to tender grass that will persist.

A Stump on the Beach

by Janet Bartier

and grass grows out of its hollow
and the sea is calm and the mountains
roar in the silence you are gone
and grass grows out of its hollow
where are you where are you
there is calm and a roar and a stump
and grass grows out of its hollow
and the sea is calm and the mountains