Ekphrastic Challenge, September 2016: Editor’s Choice

Photograph: “They All Slept Here” by Ilenia Pezzaniti. “HotelReview.com – Stay Where You Are, Which Is Here!” was written by T.J. Peters for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, September 2016, and selected as the Editor’s Choice winner.

[download broadside]

__________

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

T.J. Peters

HOTELREVIEW.COM – STAY WHERE YOU ARE, WHICH IS HERE!

This is an automatically generated message from HotelReview.com. There is no manually generated message from HotelReview.com.

Thank you for staying at THIS LOCATION. How did you enjoy your stay at THIS LOCATION?

[Insert image – “They All Slept Here”]

there is levity in the

upside down

even a dwelling so

mercilessly unfit for stay

the television

wears the sheets

the painting

hangs on seat

the queen

split by twins

the wire

purpose unclear

and yet hanging

on so few threads

we attempt upgrades

at least seeking

solace in the we are

here not for wanting

but for the where we are

so hell

it’s a damn fine headboard

—Ekphrastic Challenge, September 2016
Editor’s Choice Winner

[download audio]

__________

Comment from the editor, Timothy Green, on his selection: “Poetry should kick off its shoes and relax, at least some of the time. T.J. Peters managed to make a bleak scene fun, both with a clever format and the redemption in the last line. It made my day when I read it.”

For more on T.J. Peters, visit his website.