Black Hole Ekphrastic, by Henry Crawford

First ever photograph of a black hole, by Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration (USA) 2017, first shown 2019.

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Black Hole Ekphrastic

                                         …the dark itself not dark enough                                 
                                                       At Night, Stanley Plumly
 
Dog’s eye darkness. Hung spider-like
in your starry black bag, scoping all comers
 
like a blind decoy eyeing its prey. Gas lighting
those who come too close until another sun
 
is caught and brought into the fold. Seeing
is never believing. You appeared to me as black
 
coffee—shining, lightless. Your space
your time. I can only hypothesize your insides
 
with the finite horizon of eyes. But touch?
You give a rim of sealed skin. Then nothing.
 
Henry Crawford

Henry Crawford is a poet whose work has appeared in several journals and online publications including Boulevard, Copper Nickel, Folio, Borderline Press and The Offbeat. He was a 2016 Pushcart nominee. His first collection of poetry, American Software, was published in 2017 by CW Books. His poem Blackout was just selected by the Southern Humanities Review as a finalist in the Jake Adam York Witness Poetry Contest. His multimedia poem, Windows and Secrets, was a finalist in the 2018 Slippery Elm Journal Multimedia Poetry Contest. His website is HenryCrawfordPoetry.com.