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

Madonna and Child with Saint John, by Frank Paino

10/3/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (France) 1875

Madonna and Child with Saint John
 
             But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19

Not everything the angel spoke in the narrow 
dark of Nazareth, nor every word 
the seraphs sang above that rough stable 

with its pall of dung and afterbirth was glory.
Before her Fiat came the spectre 
of all that was to come: bitter burst of locust 

on her nephew’s tongue, grit of sand against his teeth, 
a searing ache like Eden’s flaming sword sunk deep
into her breast as she beheld his head upon a salver.

And, yes, the seawater would rise
like cobblestone beneath the soles of her son’s
calloused feet, but, so too, his naked flesh

would be furrowed by whips, his wrists pinned
to wood hoisted on a godforsaken hill.
No wonder then, the succor she takes in the boys’ 

fleshly delight, too young for lust, still tender as two
ripened dates, mouth to mouth, heads inclined
to form a heart above her heart which understands

it will be shattered for a god’s unbearable design.
How deftly the artist fixed to canvas the sum
of brute history—that women pay the awful toll

for glories claimed by deities and men. Behold, 
the storm whose fury gathers in her sable 
chasuble, the sanguine flood that streams beneath.

Frank Paino

Frank Paino’s poems have appeared in a variety of literary publications, including: 
Crab Orchard Review, Catamaran, North American Review, World Literature Today, Gettysburg Review, Prairie Schooner, The Briar Cliff Review, Lake Effect and a number of anthologies. Frank’s third book, Obscura, was published by Orison Books in 2020. His first two volumes of poetry, The Rapture of Matter and Out of Eden were published by Cleveland State University Press. Frank has received a Pushcart Prize, The Cleveland Arts Prize in Literature, and an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council. His website is: https://www.frankpaino.net
0 Comments

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