Special Showcase: Ekphrastic Workshops with Bonnie Naradzay and the Ingleside Independent Living Retirement Community

Ladder to the Moon, by Georgia O'Keeffe (USA) 1958

Special Showcase: Ekphrastic Workshops with Bonnie Naradzay and the Ingleside Independent Living Retirement Community

​Bonnie Naradzay started leading monthly poetry workshops at Ingleside Independent Retirement Center in Washington DC around 2015, shortly after the 98th birthday of her friend, Henry Morgenthau III, who was an Ingleside resident.  They had become friends in 2012 when they took a community poetry class together that fall; it was taught by David Keplinger, a poet and mentor on the faculty of American University.  The format of the workshop, which is an hour to an hour and a half long, remains the same.  She prepares a handout of 12 - 15 pages for each participant.  The handout features poems by a single poet, with information about that poet’s work, or poems that focus on a poetic technique or tradition.  The handout includes “writing suggestions” based on the information in the handout and on the poems, which serve as examples.  At the following session, some participants bring poems they’ve written in response to the “Writing suggestions” to share with the group for discussion, so that half the time is devoted to these poetic efforts; the rest of the time is for exploring the new handout and taking a look at the “writing responses.”  Quite a few times over the years, the sessions have featured the many ways to write ekphrastic poetry and include examples of poems paired with the works of art that inspired the poems.  It is a wonderful means to practice “art” in more than one way!

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Ladder to the Moon                                                              
                     
When researching the location of Ladder to the Moon,
hoping to find it nearby (it’s in the Whitney in New York),
I learned that a decrepit ladder leaned against O’Keeffe’s stable wall
at Ghost Ranch and that a ladder is a Navajo symbol of the connection
between those of us on earth and those in the realm of the gods.
Living in the same country, and sensitive to the air, the light, topography
of New Mexico – she began developing the sensitivity of a Navajo.
 
The Pedernal mountain (her view from her studio) provides a sturdy base
for the image.  Most of the picture is of the sky – from light to dark turquoise.
For Navajos, the stone symbolizes spirituality, good health, and creativity.
The reproduction I have shows me that the square spaces between rungs
are lighter than the sky behind them.  Was this due to her poor vision
or does it emphasize that the ladder is floating in space?
Was the ladder really pink or did she choose the colour 
to complement the sky?  It does seem to be floating upwards.
She painted it in 1958 when she was 72 and beginning to go blind.
Perhaps she realized that she was on her way up the ladder, as well.
 
How better to express the imminence of the Final Journey?
The peaceful certainty of the floating ladder,
The comfort of the blue-green sky, the promise of the glowing half-moon
All combine to assure us of the gentleness of death.
 
Her early paintings show her intense observation of the details of life.
Here did she want to show us the beauty of the infinite?

Sarah Yerkes

Sarah Yerkes published her first book of poems this year at the age of 101.  Her interest in writing poetry began in her mid-nineties after she joined the monthly Ingleside Poetry Workshop.  In her professional life she was a practicing architect for many years; then she became interested in creating sculptures.  Now she finds joy in sculpting imagery, memories, musings – through words on the page.  Her ekphrastic poem “Pygmalion and Galatea” was read at the Burning Man Festival this year.

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Ladder to the Moon                                                             
                                   
I’m gazing at the startling turquoise sky.
Thoughts take flight on the untethered ladder.
Across the horizon lies a dark line
Hiding peaks and valleys, rocks and trees,
Like a complex person I do not know.
All is dwarfed in endless possibilities.
I wonder what was on O’Keeffe’s mind.
As always, she articulates no message.

Pallid words, themselves lost in the sky.
After toiling up, our awe is speechless.
The moon is small, a distant reminder
Of whole galaxies beyond our endless space.
As I ponder, my feelings of awe are intense,
Words lost in that startling turquoise sky,
Untethered as the hand hewn ladder
And free to wander in my inner world. 
 
As I gaze, relaxing into memories,
I stand on a mountain top with my Dad.
Our horses had toiled up a steep, rocky trail,
And, finally, exhausted satisfaction.

Molly Jones-Quinn                                              
 
Molly Quinn, soon to be 80, has lived at the Ingleside Independent Retirement Center for three years.  The Poetry Workshop is the high point of her month.  Words have always been important tools for her as a parent, a writer, a teacher, and a psychoanalyst.  She has twice received the Plumsock Prize for psychoanalytic writing; she finds poetry a delightful new challenge.

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Meditation on O’Keeffe’s Ladder to the Moon                         
 
Ladder suspended in blue sky
Moon in its first quarter above
Hints of desolation below
Separated by wisps of clouds
 
Perhaps, a message of despair
Atmospheric trapping more warmth
Too much and too little water
Famine and distress on our sphere
 
Perhaps, promising future hope
The moon’s coruscating climax
Bathes earth in gilded brilliance
Bringing focus to the ladder
 
Up and down, sky and ground
Will despair turn to hope in time?
 
Ted Truman

Ted Truman (78) is an international economist who worked at the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury; he moved to Ingleside seven years ago, and in 2015 he joined the Ingleside Poetry Salon.  Here he has tried his hand at poetry and has applied himself with diligence to this art ever since.  His abiding interest is in writing about nature.  ​

Luncheon of the Boating Party, by Pierre Auguste Renoir (France) 1881

​A Dog’s Life at Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party                     
 
On a bright spring day
My person gave me a bath
Put me in a basket
Took me for a ride
 
Men were on the water
Sitting on a plank
Waving funny sticks
Not my kind of paddle
 
Moved from sun to shade
Table spread with food
They gave me some, of course
We were in France you know
 
Ladies smelled sweet
Flowers in a garden
Each gave me a cuddle
I’d rather chase squirrels 

Ted Truman

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A Riff on Renoir’s Boating Party                            
​
Whoever has a “luncheon” today?
Nobody.  Now it’s grab and go:
“Hey fella, you want fries with that?
Sit over there-- room to spare.” 
 
Renoir’s impression of our past
Depicts the peak of civilization 
When people had their values straight,
When doggies could be kissed at table,
And guys didn’t have to wear shirts.
 
Time itself lingering on   
As alcoholic haze spreads 
By breath that carries the soothing words 
Of love and peace and je ne sais quoi
In an afternoon that lasts as long 
As boundless beauty, wit and charm 
continues to fill this natural space.
 
I love the hats.  What’s up with hats
Today?  Advertising egos
and heroes-- politics and sports.  
And finally, again, the food and drink:
Why, who of us would ever think
We have it good today?  No way. 

Paul Armington

Paul Armington (79) is an economist who worked at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.  He moved to Ingleside three years ago and joined the monthly poetry workshop.  He is enjoying learning about poets and their writing styles through the ages, and he happily crafts poems now rather than economics position papers.