An ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art. Through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the “action” of a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning.
I try not to write an ekphrastic about every ripple of oil sheen on asphalt I really do yet I write widening rings of rainbow fluid unfolding fretting patterns pigmenting pavement in painted blotchy beautiful bands of color around in rounds of death-tied tie-dye dying fossil film floating on water coated with what’s a surfactant not sure if I can’t reflect light like words on worlds in light on oil on water— worlds liquefied in each cruel drip each fuel drop, each horizon sun-spread, rays bend, arcs break, back-takes against one dollop of sunlight– a starburst shreds so many already strained breaths left stained in toxicant spikes, ragged stripes and sickly spots, on pave-ways and parking lots, around methane stations, abounds the scent surrounding a manufactured best kept secret— best kept in the ground lest chemical death keeps poisoning rainbows all the way down where I’m a mess smelling the slick– grinning buzz-saw glinting iridescent.
— Adam Powers