Ekphrastic Challenge, August 2015: Artist’s Choice

Image by Howard R. Debs. Used by permission, Frederick County Division of Parks and Recreation. “Ice House” was written by Ann Giard-Chase for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, August 2015, and selected by Debs as the Artist’s Choice winner.

[download broadside]

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[audioplayer file=”https://admin.rattle.com/audio/GiardChaseIce.mp3″]

Ann Giard-Chase

ICE HOUSE

Mostly it’s their feet

I remember—shaggy

hooves the size of pies

stomping through the snow,

their breath forming in white clouds

as they pulled the wooden

sled through the frozen

tracks of ice. It was January,

cold as a knife’s edge.

Winter had come again

barreling down from the north,

dragging behind it the arctic winds,

throttling the lake in its icy

grip. I imagine it was 5 a.m.

when my grandfather rose

from his warm bed, stoked

the embers in the pot-bellied

stove, pulled on his boots

and trekked from house to barn,

his body heavy with layers

of fur and wool. It was ten below.

Time to loop the feedbags

over the workhorses’ necks, strap

them to harness, give the reins

a flick, trudge to the bay to unload

saws and tongs and cut long scars

into the lake’s icy bed. Whatever

you do in this life, however difficult

your quest, your bones aching

from the effort, your heart weary

of the task, remember the ice men,

the creak of their sleds as they went

slogging out into the immeasurable cold,

their voices rising under the moon’s

thin light to pile the heavy blocks

of ice, shroud them in sawdust, wrap

them in stillness, and bury them

deep in their dark stone caves.

—from Ekphrastic Challenge
Artist’s Choice

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Comment from the artist, Howard R. Debs, on his selection: “For me this poem is the one that best evokes the spirit of the pictorial presented; it is technically well written, the poetics, construction, language usage, literary devices, etc. all support the narrative which stretches the ‘canvas’ of the visual to rightfully claim the designation, contemporary ekphrastic poem. For those interested, in my just published article, you can read more about the merit of contemporary ekphrasis, the ‘how to’ aspects for those unacquainted with or just starting to work in this genre, as well as consider my apologia putting forth an argument for multi-media in the internet age. Besides Ann’s poem, without being modest, another good example of the ‘new’ ekphrasis I champion may be found in a published essay of mine which concludes with an ekphrastic poem trilogy. Have a look, then ‘challenge’ yourself to try your own hand at this art form by participating in this forum.”