Ekphrastic Challenge, April 2016: Artist’s Choice

Photograph: “Into the Mystic” by Robert Dash. “Invisible” was written by Ann Giard-Chase for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, April 2016, and selected by Dash as the Artist’s Choice winner.

[download broadside]

__________

Ann Giard-Chase

INVISIBLE

They travel from darkness,

speaking in tongues—

a language of strings and waves.

They lug bits of this and that,

traces of matter left over

when nothing became everything,

and everything was a seething

cauldron of quarks, and particles,

and flecks of you and me.

You know what I mean.

It happened a long time ago,

when all of creation roared

to life, and light was switched

from off to on, and a trillion

galactic fires lit up the sky.

Listen! Can you hear the stars?

They speak of a light you cannot see,

waves that won’t lie still

but swirl and flail like fish

in a net, like wings or sails

caught in an invisible rolling sea.

This is a tide that never ebbs,

a sorrow without a name

streaking through the cosmos,

falling through the clouds

to earth. But the earth loves

everything—a rock, a tree,

fields of bluebells, even our own

kind rising from the sea,

charging across continents,

scattering our dreams;

our hearts are always looking

for answers, tracing the icy path

of comets, the sheets of fiery stars,

the limits of everything,

the invisible vibrations of time.

—Ekphrastic Challenge, April 2016
Artist’s Choice Winner

__________

Comment from the artist, Robert Dash, on his selection: “After reading all of the wonderful poems over several times, and letting them sift through my days, I’ve chosen the poem ‘Invisible’ by Ann Giard-Chase. ‘Invisible’ because it has a sense of eternity, of blending with the Great Mystery. The centerpiece—’Listen! Can you hear the stars?/ They speak of a light you cannot see,/ waves that won’t lie still/ but swirl and flail like fish/ in a net, like wings or sails/ caught in an invisible rolling sea’—is a joyous celebration of the wild miracle that is existence. The poet welcomes grief into her lines, but I feel her fierce love for life, and all these elements echo what my photograph means to me. Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this inspiring process, and thank you to all of the poets who sent their fascinating work!” (website)