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

gold mining in 1929, by Stephanie Gemmell

9/21/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
Gold Mining, Cripple Creek, by Ernest Lawson (USA) 1929.

gold mining in 1929
 
broad landscape of frosted purplish mountains
the fresh purity of a clear blue sky
perfectly dotted with feathery clouds
painted as a child might imagine them
summits stretch skyward in vain pursuit
 
houses painted scarlet and sapphire
boldly refuse to blend into the earth
the habitat of fresh aspirations
hopes unrestricted by harrowing truths
peacefully unaware of disaster
 
emerald trees cascade down the mountainside
flecks of disparate colours coalesce
into blended streaks of reality
everything made up of differences
harder to discern the closer you look
 
a portrait of simple intricacies 
like the backdrop of a distant memory
or the vignette of a forgotten life
a daydream drenched in natural brilliance
imagination in technicolour     
 
from nature’s evocative majesty
inspiration suddenly emerges
in reveries fueled by desperation
like a history of untold stories
unrelenting once they are truly free
 
searching for magic glistening metal
rumored to solve the problems life presents
in a frantic effort to steal from the earth
they never truly stop to wonder
what if we’re looking for something else?

Stephanie Gemmell

Stephanie Gemmell is an undergraduate at George Washington University studying Religion, Journalism, and Creative Writing. Her poetry has appeared in Wooden Teeth, and she has been a correspondent and editor for The Rival GW. She currently leads a campus service organization and serves as chaplain for a gender-inclusive fraternity. She is also a flutist and composer, and her work is motivated by the unique power of art to ask questions and inspire unity.
1 Comment
Kyle D Laws
9/21/2019 11:54:38 am

Thanks for the poem! I live not far from there. Spent a summer in nearby Victor writing on the top floor of one of the old houses. You captured the incredible hillside well. Don't know the artist, so glad to have been introduced. Some did stop to wonder if they were looking for something else and came down off the mountain to found some of the interesting businesses in the historical West.

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
    ​

    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