The Ekphrastic Review
  • The Ekphrastic Review
  • The Ekphrastic Challenges
    • Challenge Archives
  • Ebooks
  • Prizes
  • Book Shelf
    • TERcets Podcast
  • The Ekphrastic Academy
  • Give
  • Submit
  • Contact
  • About/Masthead

Two Poems After Vermeer, by Joan Kantor

6/9/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
Officer and Laughing Girl, by Johannes Vermeer (Netherlands) 1657

Caution

In a masterful play of design
Vermeer leads us on

guiding our eyes

first to this young woman’s face
in its white-kerchieved
fur-collared frame
fully engaged
as she listens to a story being told

The soft-beige-gold 
of her satin robe
like her smile
is aglow
in the light flowing from a window

The curved index finger
of her upturned hand on the table
is an open invitation
into her world

one that’s too small
for this oversized man
in the foreground
foreboding in demeanor
with the worldliness of a warrior

There’s a boastful sense
of confidence
in the firmness of his ruffled hand on hip
in the jut of his elbow
and the vivid red of his clothing

The artist
paints the bold black rim of the officer’s hat
at a rakish angle 
that points to a map on the wall

telling it all

Enamored
she’s blind to that image
behind her

but 
if she falls for this wanderer
someday far away he’ll philander

and while he’s telling those tales
to charm someone else

she’ll be raising his babies
by herself


Picture
Maid and Mistress, by Johannes Vermeer (Netherlands) c.1667

The Space Between Them

As always,
Vermeer hints at half a story.

Perhaps he’s fooling us into focusing on questions
surrounding an unopened letter
that a young maid is handing to her mistress,
who, with pen in hand,
is about to write her own.

Both young women gaze at the envelope
with tentative faces,
anxious to find out what’s inside.

As their hands almost touch,
we sense a shared secret
and more.

As was often the case
they probably once played together,
laughing while rolling hoops with sticks,

till society and servitude intervened,

but now, one woman, 
though blending into the background,
in her plain brown frock,
silently, softly
reaches out towards the other,
in her contrasting pearls, fur,
luminous-gold-velvet robe,

and as their downcast eyes briefly meet,
sisterhood fills the space 
between them.

Joan Kantor

Joan Kantor has completed several poetry collections and has been published in numerous journals. She has won The Hackney Literary Award for Poetry, first place for poetry in The Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards and has been a finalist in several other contests.  She has mentored young poets at The Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, performs in Stringing Words Together (violinist and poet duo) and does readings and workshops throughout the Northeast and Florida. Her work focuses on nature, the human condition and the arts.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    The Ekphrastic Review
    Picture
    Current Prompt
    Picture
    COOKIES/PRIVACY

    This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies.

    Opt Out of Cookies
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Join us: Facebook and Bluesky
    @ekphrasticreview.



    ​
    ​Archives
    ​

    July 2025
    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    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 [email protected] 

  • The Ekphrastic Review
  • The Ekphrastic Challenges
    • Challenge Archives
  • Ebooks
  • Prizes
  • Book Shelf
    • TERcets Podcast
  • The Ekphrastic Academy
  • Give
  • Submit
  • Contact
  • About/Masthead