Granite

 

Written for Paul Brookes' ekphrastic challenge - one poem a day in April 2021. 

 

The art work for this day is "Jim" by John Law.

Granite

Hard as granite, thirty years
unperturbed by relentless
dark noise and toxic dust, he told
them it wasn't wise, but their minds
were slow, their dull thoughts
creaking like an old winter tree. 

Tim Fellows 2021

 

Notes: I started with 6 words that sprang at me from the image and used this extreme obsessive form to start thinking how they connected:

 

 

Granite, unperturbed, dark, wise, slow, creaking

Creaking, granite, unperturbed, dark, wise, slow
Slow, creaking, granite, unperturbed, dark, wise
Wise, slow, creaking, granite, unperturbed, dark
Dark, wise, slow, creaking, granite, unperturbed
Unperturbed, dark, wise, slow, creaking, granite

 

I then tried other words from the completed piece in a 6 word obsessive form. 

Hard, relentless, noise, minds, dull, old
Relentless, noise, minds, dull, old, hard
Noise, minds, dull, old, hard, relentless
Minds, dull, old, hard, relentless, noise
Dull, old, hard, relentless, noise, minds
Old, hard, relentless, noise, minds, simple