Bewitching at Jacob's Well, by Sandi Stromberg

From the Depths, by Larry Garmezy (USA) contemporary

Bewitching at Jacob’s Well
 
The water dazzles, its rippling fingers a swirl
of blues and greens enticing the unaware
to plunge into coolness--
             a pool that beckons and repulses,
                           tethers me to the rocks.
 
The locals say its lacy limestone reaches 
toward the centre of the earth,
conceals an invisible maze of caves,
             devious alcoves to greet and keep
                           those answering the Sirens’ call.
 
They say somewhere in its unknown depths
are watery graves. I shiver as clouds block
the sun’s dizzying rays,
             and wrap my body in my arms.
                           Darkness bubbles up
 
from some uncharted source.
I step back from the rim, force my eyes
to rest on the peaceful face
             of a distant, mesquite-covered hill,
                           to break the iron hold
 
of the mesmerizing water,
              its treacherous colour--
                           so I can breathe.

Sandi Stromberg
 
Read more of Sandi's ekphrastic works here.

Larry Garmezy’s photographs chronicle what he finds visually and intellectually intriguing in the natural world. Understanding the physical processes that create patterns in nature allows him to capture unusual impressions and abstractions of the visual landscape. The common thread across his work is the effect created by the distortion of light, color, and shape created either by ripples in a spring, surface tension around a floating leaf, the convoluted fracturing of a cliff face, or the impurities in a 400-year-old pane of glass.

Sandi Stromberg’s poetry has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize and for 2020 Best of the Net. She is a dedicated contributor to The Ekphrastic Review and recently contributed a Throwback Thursday (May 22). In 2021, the Review awarded her a Fantastic Ekphrastic Award for her contributions to the genre. Her poetry has appeared in many small journals and anthologies, including San Pedro River Review, The Ocotillo Review, Houston Chronicle-San Antonio Express-News, Words & Art, Visual Verse, Weaving the Terrain, Enchantment of the Ordinary, and in Dutch in the Netherlands in Brabant Cultureel and Dichtersbankje (the Poet’s Bench).