So wrong and so right

Picture credit: Britta Benson

Things I want to share today: This week, I have been invited to set the prompt for Word Craft Poetry’s Ekphrastic challenge. It took me quite some time to select a picture. Not for lack of photographs, I’ll have you know!

It felt like quite a responsibility! I mean, hey, I wondered: what if I choose an image that leaves all these lovely poets completely stumped? Flat? Fizzled out?

I thought about the kind of prompts I like myself. Intriguing, but open to all sorts of interpretations. Admittedly, I do have a slightly unhealthy penchant towards the sombre, the macabre. And yes, I quite happily integrate a little bit of decay into my day. Especially now, that we’re in autumn, my favourite season by far. I do enjoy this colourful and vibrant evensong of nature. So many nuances to pick up upon. Every year it surprises me all over again, that there are so many shades of ochre, blood orange and copper. Leaves really do like to dress up for the occasion and deserve our full attention and admiration!

In the end, I chose a picture I took in April this year, in Germany. Here’s why.

We visited my dad’s hometown of Heusenstamm during our Easter break and the moment we went inside the baroque church, my dad – who is usually rather economical with his words – told us story upon story about coming here as a youngster every Sunday, about all the things he was up to with his pals when the service went on for too long, about his first Holy Communion, and how he ruined his shoes, because he decided to climb trees, instead of coming back for prayer…

So many memories of his early childhood simply bubbled out of him, it was such a pleasure to witness. For a brief moment, my frail dad looked, and perhaps even felt, like a naughty wee school boy. I couldn’t stop smiling, which felt so wrong and so right at the same time. Inside this dramatic and theatrical setting – German baroque doesn’t do things half heartedly, so expect nothing but the gloomiest gloom – we had a lovely family moment. My 82 year old dad sported the smirky grin of a mischievous eight year old. Precious minutes!

The decoration you can see on the picture I chose as prompt for Word Craft Poetry watched over us, as we listened to dad’s stories. I remember at the time thinking that these ornaments would have watched my dad grow up over the years, from his christening to his early adulthood, they would have seen dad’s dad and others I never even knew and now, they were looking at my family. Perhaps we’d come and visit this church again in a few years’ time…

This is where my little Shadorma poem picks up the story:

Ancestors
I never knew, walked
past these deep
sockets, set
in cold stone. Bones watch, don’t judge.
I carry your blood.

Here’s the link to Colleen’s blogpage: https://wordcraftpoetry.com/2022/09/20/tankatuesday-weekly-poetry-challenge-no-290-ekphrastic-photoprompt/

Please participate in the challenge and let me know if this picture inspires you too.

Happy Tuesday to you all, and I’ll see you here tomorrow, should you wish!