The Ekphrastic Review
  • The Ekphrastic Review
  • The Ekphrastic Challenges
    • Challenge Archives
  • Ebooks
  • Prizes
  • Book Shelf
    • Ekphrastic Book Shelf
    • Contributors' Book Shelf
    • TERcets Podcast
  • Workshops
  • Give
  • Submit
  • Contact
  • About/Masthead

Considering Caravaggio’s Portrait of Medusa by Sonia Greenfield

7/1/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture
Medusa, by Caravaggio (b. Italy), 1597.
Considering Caravaggio’s Portrait of Medusa
 
That we have always
wanted to do away
 
with ugly, though who
gets to judge? She was
 
my mother after all
bullied by the gifted, her
 
face used as a weapon,
her story a cautionary tale.
 
A snake's skin is cool
to the touch, each scale
 
like a jewel, each jewel
onyx or topaz. I would
 
have liked to run my hands
over her hair and feel
 
its every sinew. In her
last breath we were born
 
from her torn neck.
It’s terrible to never know
 
your family. My twin
was born a winged horse
 
who took flight the minute
he sprung from the heart
 
in her throat. How he
carries this I'll never know.
 
Such burdens can drag
and turn us to stone.

Sonia Greenfield

Sonia Greenfield: "I was born and raised in Peekskill, New York, and now live with my husband and son in Los Angeles, California, where I teach writing at USC. My poems, essays, and fiction have appeared in a variety of places, including in 2010 Best American Poetry, The Antioch Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, Cimarron Review, Cream City Review, The Massachusetts Review, Meridian, and Rattle. My first book, Boy with a Halo at the Farmer's Market, won the 2014 Codhill Poetry Prize."

1 Comment
Alexis Rhone Fancher link
7/1/2016 11:09:34 am

Exquisite. Chillingly good poem. Sonia Greenfield is terrific.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    The Ekphrastic Review
    Picture
    Current Prompt
    COOKIES/PRIVACY
    This site uses cookies to deliver your best navigation experience this time and next. Continuing here means you consent to cookies. Thank you.
    Join us on Facebook:
    Picture
    Picture



    ​
    ​Archives
    ​

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    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 

  • The Ekphrastic Review
  • The Ekphrastic Challenges
    • Challenge Archives
  • Ebooks
  • Prizes
  • Book Shelf
    • Ekphrastic Book Shelf
    • Contributors' Book Shelf
    • TERcets Podcast
  • Workshops
  • Give
  • Submit
  • Contact
  • About/Masthead