Five After Joan Miró, by Celine Krempp

Towards the Rainbow, by Joan Miró (Spain) 1941

Caged in Chaos:
 
The bridge towards Heaven has broken
and Hell’s dancing imps have banned me.
The cackling hags greet me in darkness
when the brightest star falls.
 
The entrance to my soul breaks.
I see the blood leak 
and atrocities keep circling me.
 
Time and waves are finite
in the never-ending darkness of life.
 
Chaotic harlequins harvest the seeds 
condemned to never grow.
The Reaper distorts his scythe
when life ends with nothing worthwhile.
In chaos, I lose myself
or shelter from my pains.
 
Will the clouds reveal the rainbow
so that I may escape and truly live?
Or will I keep crying, drowning,
and trapping myself in chaos?

Awakening In The Early Morning, by Joan Miró (Spain) 1941

​Beasts Before Dawn:
 
The golden-eyed tapirs, awaken
and alert the green flying fish.
They have many duties to perform
before the sun can rise.
 
They look for men and women
and order them to end
their howling night of human passions.
 
They calm the Magma Dame
whose stomachs and brains have growled
all night long.
 
The green flying fish must chase the blue stars
that hide in nebulas. 
The moon refuses to hide
but like a stray cat, she’s chased out
by the golden-eyed tapirs.
All that work before dawn.
 
The extraordinary beasts
have completed the tasks that must be done.
The sun arrives and they transform
into average critters.

The Poetess, by Joan Miró (Spain) 1940

Broken:
 
She looked at the night for inspiration
when the day outright ignored her.
“Can’t a star like you bring influence?”
“Are you worth inspiring?”
 
She sees the heads of bluebirds
singing in the twilight.
Twilight is past a bluebird’s bedtime.
 
She sees the cosmic shrimp
comforting the red eclipse
way past dusk.
 
“My partner left me! Said I was too red!”
The lunar eclipse cried.
“That mongoose with an olm’s face
left me for a white crescent moon!
He left me with these blue stars 
to raise all on my own!”
 
She pitied the betrayed eclipse.
After finding inspiration, she learned
that Day abandoned the eclipse.
Day was all take and no give.

Woman and Birds, by Joan Miró (Spain) 1940

Whining To The Moon:
 
She wailed her woes at the pale moon
in the dusty dusk of summer,
silencing the loudest of parrots
and frightening local parasites.
 
“Oh, Moon! Life is just so unfair!
I move faster than an avalanche
yet I get compared to seven snails!”
 
“I like to move my way with patience.
The same routine every month
helps me reach my brightest spot.”
 
“Your candle to another’s bonfire?
That’s your basis for comparison? Are you serious?”
“As serious as the sea’s most tranquil tide
and the tiger waiting for its dinner.”
 
The Moon leaves her to resume her journey.
After all, the Moon may have patience,
but she knows she can’t satisfy 
the whims of mortal women.
 

The Escape Ladder, by Joan Miró (Spain) 1940

The Parasite:
 
Sadness is the dark parasite
that worms its way around my veins,
stinking like balsamic vinegar
and choking me like raw oysters.
 
Sadness is a smiling spider
that drinks my blood like cheap Cabernet
when it’s not even Saturday night.
 
Sadness is a critical parent
shaming my passions as dull distractions
and I hide myself in my Tartarus.
 
Sadness is the closest of all the stars.
I never asked to be in the spotlight
but she forced me to go underneath it. 
 
Will I ever escape this parasite
that keeps dictating my way of life?
Can this parasite untether
its existence from my own?

Celine Krempp
​
Celine is a French-American artist and writer. Working part-time as a security guard in cultural institutions inspire Celine with her ekphrastic writing. Her works, written and illustrated, have been featured in The Ekphrastic Review (December 2025) and The Light Ekphrastic (February 2026). When she’s not brainstorming her next creative project, she walks her dog VanGogh, reads books, indulges in sweet cravings, and reads her favorite French comic books for the millionth time. Celine shares her artworks on her Instagram account, @ck_arts122, and projects on her Linkedin profile.