Although I’m taking a second workshop in the same form (ekphrasis) with the same leader (Christine Stewart) at the same location (BMA), I have been pleasantly surprised to find myself facing new challenges as a poet. So far I have started three poems about three different portraits, whereas in the previous workshop I only chose objects or landscapes, and in the most recent assignment we wrote poems with partners, another new approach for me.
My partner was a lovely writer who has published a book of short stories and is quite well known in Maryland literary circles, so I was thrilled to get to work with her. We chose the painting together (my third portrait) and then went to work seperately, getting our first impressions down on paper. Once we each had a draft, we emailed it to each other, read them over, and talked on the phone about how to combine them into one poem. It was really instructive for me: Lalita has a more elegant style than I do, which matched the portrait’s tone, and it was interesting to try and hold myself to that same level of eloquent restraint. My usual pattern is to lace the poem with as many sound effects (alliteration, assonance, all kinds of rhyme) as I can and to choose the most vivid vocabulary words I can, but for this poem, the new approach felt natural. The combined draft was tight and spare without being simplistic, and it was a satisfying experience all around.
On the teaching front, my professional meetings start this week, and I have re-decorated my bulletin board. On the personal front, my girls start first grade tomorrow, and my husband starts law school. Wish us luck, won’t you please?
