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

Family and Rainstorm, 1955, by D.S. Martin

1/14/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture
Family and Rainstorm, by Alex Colville (Canada) 1955.
Family & Rainstorm, 1955

As Alex Colville has painted it
a young mother watches an approaching storm
across the wide river

She holds open the door
of their mastodon sedan
for her children to take shelter

The interior of the door is as plain
as the fifties   The solid lines
of automotive bulk point to the darkening sky

The pleats of her white dress are real
The yellow grass beneath their bare feet
is real   so is the coming rain

I wasn’t even born then   but as I watch
the family entering the car
I know   the rain is almost upon me

D.S. Martin

This poem was previously published in Poiema (2008, Wipf & Stock).


D.S. Martin is the author of four poetry collections, including Ampersand (2018), & Conspiracy of Light: Poems Inspired by the Legacy of C.S. Lewis (2013) -- both from Cascade Books. He is Poet-in-Residence at McMaster Divinity College, the Series Editor for the Poiema Poetry Series, and has recently edited two anthologies -- The Turning Aside (2016), andAdam, Eve, & the Riders of the Apocalypse (2017). He and his wife live in Brampton, Ontario; they have two adult sons.
2 Comments
Peter Kazmaier link
1/15/2019 10:47:15 am

I appreciate the synergy between the painting and Martin's description of the impact the painting had on him. For me, both the painting and the poem are enhanced.

Reply
Laura Leavens
1/29/2019 07:50:24 pm

Reading the poem while looking at the painting enlivened the figures so much so that I imagined the mother, in her crisply creased dress, was about to turn around and face me with an icy gaze as if to say, "Don't mess with me, Lady. The rain's a comin'."

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
    Picture



    ​
    ​Archives
    ​

    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