The Ekphrastic Review
  • Ekphrastic Journal
  • About
  • Give
    • Merch
  • Book Shelf
    • Ekphrastic Book Shelf
    • Contributors' Book Shelf
  • Ebooks
  • Submit
  • Prizes
  • Ekphrastic Writing Challenges
    • Challenge Archives
  • TERcets Podcast
  • Writers
  • Contact

Joaquín Torres García’s Café de París, by Ilona Martonfi

2/25/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Café de París, by Joaquín Torres-García (Uruguay) 1928

Joaquín Torres García’s Café de París
 
Oil on canvas. Slate white, red ochre palette. Write it. Write. Les Années Folles in Montparnasse. The avant-garde.
 
Outline of a rectangular figure here, and another there. Overlaid with black pictographic symbols. We are squat, angular, roughly drawn, says one character. Scratching away brushstrokes, construction of stacked blocks of colour. Write. I put down the word ragtime jazz, the word flapper. Look at the 1920s, the Crazy Years. Left Bank of the Seine. Populate the flat, gridded space with archetypal motifs.
 
Window frames, awning, roof tiles. And the stars.
 
Where terrace cafés. Where tracing in writers and artists. Until the Lost Generation, the expatriates, stand upon this stage. Write. At l'Opéra de Paris, Boléro. Shrill piccolo, the oboe. Sharp staccato of a snare drum.

Ilona Martonfi

This poem
 was previously published with Inanna Publications Author Blog and forthcoming in the chapbook Black Rain.
​

Ilona Martonfi is an editor, poet, curator, advocate and activist. Author of four poetry books, the most recent collection is Salt Bride (Inanna, 2019). Forthcoming, The Tempest (Inanna, 2022). Writes in journals, anthologies, and seven chapbooks. Her poem “Dachau on a Rainy Day” was nominated for the 2018 Pushcart Prize. Artistic director of Visual Arts Centre Reading Series and Argo Bookshop Reading Series. QWF 2010 Community Award.

Editor's note: This artwork was used in an ekphrastic challenge. Read another poem by Ilona and many more inspired by the painting, here.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    The Ekphrastic Review
    Picture

    ​​Find a writer, artist, or poem, etc. by searching here:
    Current Prompt
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    PLEASE SUPPORT US



    ​
    ​Archives
    ​

    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

    Lorette C. Luzajic theekphrasticreview@gmail.com 

  • Ekphrastic Journal
  • About
  • Give
    • Merch
  • Book Shelf
    • Ekphrastic Book Shelf
    • Contributors' Book Shelf
  • Ebooks
  • Submit
  • Prizes
  • Ekphrastic Writing Challenges
    • Challenge Archives
  • TERcets Podcast
  • Writers
  • Contact