Ekphrasis: Poems and Art
Image Credit: Cathleen Cohen
Welcome to a new Mad Poets blog, to be offered quarterly.
It’s a pleasure to write about the relationship between poetry and other art forms, to examine ways that a various creative arts relate to each other.
The term ekphrasis can be defined narrowly as writing that describes a work of art in another medium-- paintings, music, photography sculpture and the like. It can also refer more broadly to the alchemy that happens when one medium tries to define and relate to another. This could refer to poems inspired by the visual arts or music -- and also the reverse! To my mind, ekphrasis can also encompass hybrid works, like artists’ books, author/illustrator collaborations and graphic poems.
Many scholars have written about ekphrasis and there are great resources online. Though not scholar of the topic, I have had a practice of writing poetry and painting for many years. Both are essential to my creative life. These art forms interact, challenge each other and open up many questions and tensions.
My aim in this blog is to feature the work of various poets and artists, to let you know of interesting viewing opportunities and to provide some angles that might prompt your own writing.
Enoch the Poet – Shaping the Visual
From Immortal Dark, Black Minds Publishing, 2020
Enoch the Poet (James Church) is a talented poet, publisher, and trauma-informed educator whose approach to using visual art and poetry is only one of his many accomplishments. Speaking with him has expanded my understanding of what ekphrasis can accomplish. Not only does Enoch use multiple art forms himself, he collaborates with other creatives. Perhaps most significantly, he is providing a platform to inspire and share the work of other poets, artists and musicians.
As Founder and Executive Director of Black Mind Publishing, Enoch is a force for social change, giving “visibility to raw artistic works, both literary and visual, that center on the healing process of the Black mind, body and spirit.” (https://www.blackmindspublishing.com/) Several of their publications incorporate images and text through mangas, including Enoch’s own manga series, Immortal Dark. He has also authored two collections of poems, The Guide to Drowning (2017) and Burned At the Roots (2020).
Enoch’s early focus was not poetry, but animation. As a young student he was a “comic book lover and nerd”, a visual artist who considered digital arts college. His middle school in Wilmington was violent, where students experienced much bullying and fighting. But Enoch’s poetry chapbook project in 8th grade honors English class provided a way for other students to open up to him. He shifted his trajectory into poetry, rapping and music, since these provided connectivity and community. After much experience performing spoken word, Enoch won the title of Philadelphia Fuze Grand Slam Champion in 2017 and he placed well in the Individual World Poetry Slam in Spokane, Washington.
A Seizure Is What Happens When God Enters A Human Body
by Enoch the Poet
after Osimiri Sprowal
My mother catches the spirit for
the second time this week. The first
time was in the upstairs hallway. This
time, God finds her in the bathroom,
stretched out on a crucifix of pearl
linoleum, hands and feet shaking to
tear herself away from the cross.
Grandma used to say God spoke
through thunder and I think I can
hear him in the clapping of momma
skull against the bathroom tile and oh
how God-like that is, to speak to my family
in a language we can never understand
but always feel the pain of. Possession is
not only a demonic practice ‘cuz God has
made a new home in my momma. She
catches the spirit for the third time this week, this time, God finds her on the living room floor stretched out on a carpet the color of his sons blood, a red sea, hands and feet shaking to wade through the waters, to stroke herself to freedom. Grandma used to say God exist outside of space and time and I think he been tryna’ take my momma there. They say Jesus rose on the third day and I think on this third day of seizures I can see his resurrection in the space between momma bouncing limbs and the ground. Her mouth opens and angel wings burst from her throat. We anchor her body down and they fly away with her voice. On this third day, my mother rose with only part of herself. She goes to speak and vacancy spills over her lips. God plays abusive father in my household, bringer of blessings who is still able to shake the voice out of my momma at will and everyone around me will tell me
not to curse him because he means
well and everyone around me will
tell me this is her doing and everyone
around me will tell me to thank him
that she’s still alive when he brought
this sacred illness to her in the first
place. Grandma say you got to learn
to see the blessings in everything. My
mother regained consciousness without
a voice and I spent the next 2 hours of
the night teaching her how to speak again.
When I think back on this night I picture my
mother flying full speed after her angels.
I imagine them playful and her desperate.
I imagine a dogfight of spirits where my
momma pries the rest of herself out
of their grip and reclaims herself and
she returns to herself and when I point
to me and sound emerges from her mouth
I imagine she created her own blessing.
I imagine she is God now.
https://www.rigorous-mag.com/v3i1/enoch-the-poet.html
Currently, Enoch devotes much time to creative projects that support social growth and change. I have seen him thrive as a teaching artist who advanced into the role of Program Director at Philadelphia’s Artwell, which supports youth and their communities through creative expression, poetry and other art forms (https://www.theartwell.org/). His experience and innovations bring much to our community.
https://www.instagram.com/immortaldarkmanga/ Artwork by Susana Vieira
Going forward, Enoch’s creative ideas expand the possibilities of ekphrastic projects. He is working on a new poetry manuscript, which involves “shaping of the visual”. This will include access to videos with visuals and instrumentation. He will continue to collaborate with international manga artists, (as he’s doing now through Black Minds Publishing). He speaks of further engagement with themes of generational trauma, family dynamics, and how to facilitate the healing process in oneself. He shares that he will continue to explore “how many different forms poetry can exist in. Learning poetry teaches great skills and is a great foundation to learning how to create in general.”
Here are some links to learn more about Enoch’s talent and leadership:
https://www.facebook.com/EnochThePoet/
https://www.instagram.com/enochthepoet/
https://www.blackmindspublishing.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM9A6B--8yQ
Cathleen Cohen was the 2019 Poet Laureate of Montgomery County, PA. A painter and teacher, she founded the We the Poets program at ArtWell, an arts education non-profit in Philadelphia (www.theartwell.org). Her poems appear in journals such as Apiary, Baltimore Review, Cagibi, East Coast Ink, 6ix, North of Oxford, One Art, Passager, Philadelphia Stories, Rockvale Review and Rogue Agent. Camera Obscura (chapbook, Moonstone Press), appeared in 2017 and Etching the Ghost (Atmosphere Press), was published in 2021. She received the Interfaith Relations Award from the Montgomery County PA Human Rights Commission and the Public Service Award from National Association of Poetry Therapy. Her paintings are on view at Cerulean Arts Gallery. To learn more about her work, visit www.cathleencohenart.com.