Here’s a poem I wrote in response to Tina Modotti’s “Baby Nursing, Mexico City,” a 1926 photograph posted as part of Ekphrastic Review‘s 20 day poetry challenge in September.
An ekphrastic poem (from the Greek ekphrasis: ek “out” and phrasis “speak”) is a poem inspired by a work of art.
It was definitely a challenge, stretching my writing muscles to respond in verse to a different work of visual art each weekday. I am grateful to editor Lorette Luzajic for hosting this annual challenge, for publishing my poem, and for so joyfully bringing together the worlds of visual and literary art in a way that feels accessible and welcoming to both reader and writer. It’s really a stunning journal! You should check it out.
This image in particular spoke to me because I began weaning my toddler in early August.
The morning Modotti’s photograph was posted, I was feeling a little sadness about this transition in our lives as mother and daughter. Simultaneously, the photo filled me with gratitude for the 16 months of nursing we’ve had, and grief for the gradual shift toward independence that weaning marks and initiates.
Read my poem “An Incomplete Alphabet” at Ekphrastic Review.
Photo via Ekphrastic Review, under public domain.
Melissa Poulin 