SESSION 19 — Call & Response: The Ekphrastic Poem

The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh

Discussion:

• What happens when a painting or sculpture inspires a poet to write? An ekphrastic poem is released into the world.

• An ekphrastic poem is a poem written about a visual work of art.

• It might describe the artwork’s details, imagine the story behind it, or evoke the emotions it stirs in the viewer.

• What emotions and thoughts arise for this poet in response to Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting Starry Night?

The Starry Night

By Anne Sexton

That does not keep me from having a terrible need of—shall I say the word—religion. Then I go out at night to paint the stars.
Vincent Van Gogh in a letter to his brother.

The town does not exist
except where one black-haired tree slips
up like a drowned woman into the hot sky.
The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars.   
Oh starry starry night! This is how
I want to die.

It moves. They are all alive.
Even the moon bulges in its orange irons   
to push children, like a god, from its eye.
The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars.   
Oh starry starry night! This is how   
I want to die:

into that rushing beast of the night,   
sucked up by that great dragon, to split   
from my life with no flag,
no belly,
no cry.

Writing Prompt:

• Choose a painting, photograph, or sculpture that moves you — it could be famous, obscure, or something from your own life.

• Write a poem that doesn’t just describe what you see, but explores what it stirs in you:
  a memory, a longing, a fear, a desire.

• Let the art speak — and let your poem answer back.

• You can begin with the phrase:
  "This is how I want to..." — and see where it takes you. Or you can begin however you’d like...