 Procession in Fog, by Ernst Ferdinand Oehme (Germany). 1828. Procession in Fog Squeezed out by the heavy feet of mourners, an unearthly fog rises from hell. Day after day, the dead pass my door, followed like a shadow by those who can still pray or dig. I think I see Mother, and she’s been gone ten years. Death, like a new pastor, busily makes the rounds to every household before winter. I have nothing more to say to God for myself, but ask mercy for parents who plead, Please, Lord, please. Take me instead. Alarie Tennille This poem was written for the surprise Halloween ekphrastic challenge. Alarie’s latest poetry book, Waking on the Moon, contains many poems first published by The Ekphrastic Review. Please visit her at alariepoet.com.
4 Comments
Tammy Daniel
11/7/2017 07:40:55 am
One of the many things I like about Alarie's ekphrastic poetry is how she drops us into the art right out of the gate. There is an almost palpable weight in the artwork and she captures that straight away with the "heavy feet of mourners" squeezing "an unearthly fog" from hell. Love that!
Helen Moore
11/7/2017 04:16:58 pm
Yes, she drops you straight into the art but about the time you find your feet she drops you right out the other side into an idea you hadn't considered before. Every time I read one of her poems I have to catch my breath.
Sharon Valleau
11/8/2017 12:49:20 am
Just before reading this I read a call for prayer for a six year old boy shot five times in a Texas church. In that same shooting, 26 other people died. Tennille's writing has that uncanny way of connecting with universal fears, feelings, and experiences of the reader. She writes poetry about which the reader cares.
Tammy Daniel
11/8/2017 08:16:12 am
Sharon, I thought that same thing after watching an interview about the shooting yesterday on tv. So incredibly sad. And I agree about Alarie's universal connectivity in much of her writing. Not only does she write about things I care about, her poetry often makes me care about things that, perhaps, I had not considered before. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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