ekphrastic poetry

Issue #17, Perception

WHAT ARE YOU SEEING? In today’s world, this question takes on a whole new meaning, doesn’t it? What are we seeing? What is real and what is imagined? How is my subjective response relevant to the collective real and important conversations?

It’s critical, now more than ever, to validate what is real and to identify our selective responses. In this issue of Manifest (zine), you’ll find several images of artwork, each followed by an ekphrastic poem that responds to the art.

The zine is arranged in such a way that you are asked to see the REAL artwork, and then turn the page to read a SUBJECTIVE response. In doing so, hopefully, you’ll come to understand that for every YOU looking at the world one way, there is a ME seeing it completely differently.

Featuring writings by Jen Payne, and artwork reprinted with permission by Jennifer Flint, Lisa Wolkow, Susan Doolittle, Linda Edwards, LeBrie Rich, Collier and Kim Hahn, and Frank X. Tolbert 2; as well as older works by C. Allen Gilbert, Joseph Beuys, and W. E. Hill.

24-page, Full Color 4.75″ square booklet and a curated Spotify playlist. Cost: $8.00.

BUY NOW!

This issue has been printed and mailed thanks to the generous support of readers. I’m hoping to continue publishing MANIFEST (zine) through 2026, but could use your help. Please click here for more information.

You can pay through PayPal using a PayPal account or any standard credit card. If you prefer the old school approach, please send your check, made payable to Jen Payne, P.O. Box 453, Branford, CT 06405.

Suggested Title: Tenacious

No matter what we think
or how it feels,
we don’t really break break,
even our break downs
imply eventual turn ups.

Oh sure, we bend a little,
(bend over backwards, too)
fold under pressure sometimes
lean into the pain
collapse with exhaustion
appear to come apart at the seams
and yet…

And yet.

Upon this holy ground of spirit
there is still room to breathe,
we are not damaged, we are flexible
we are not falling apart, we are rebuilding
we are not broken or undone.

By the very fibers of our being,
we are strength and grace
unyielding.

Poem ©2021. An ekphrastic poem written by Jen Payne, inspired by the sculpture Untitled by Lisa Wolkow, featured in the Guilford Art Center Faculty Show Keeping On.