One of my faves. I heard a lecture recently on how Bruegel used his busy paintings to obscure the divine (Jesus carrying a cross, the nativity) so that we’d look closer and recognize that very often Jesus is right before us and we don’t recognize him. I love this idea of the divine hidden in the ordinary, and also how the ordinary becomes sacred too in the way he attends to it. Also love the poem. For my final project in undergrad I had to present on the punctuation in this poem, which is so well-done.
Ekphrasis! The exploring of a painting/image in words. This is such a great way to inspire writing - go to a painting and simply write about it, then form it into a poem.
One of my faves. I heard a lecture recently on how Bruegel used his busy paintings to obscure the divine (Jesus carrying a cross, the nativity) so that we’d look closer and recognize that very often Jesus is right before us and we don’t recognize him. I love this idea of the divine hidden in the ordinary, and also how the ordinary becomes sacred too in the way he attends to it. Also love the poem. For my final project in undergrad I had to present on the punctuation in this poem, which is so well-done.
I love this poem! It's been years since I read it--thanks for the reminder of its beauty!
It’s morbidly comforting to know men and women have suffered in profoundly ordinary ways forever and ever, and life goes on…forever. Love this poem.
Ekphrasis! The exploring of a painting/image in words. This is such a great way to inspire writing - go to a painting and simply write about it, then form it into a poem.