New Jersey poet Neil Ellman has twice been nominated for Best of the Net, the Pushcart Prize and the Rhysling Award from the Science Fiction Poetry Association. His poems appear in print and online journals, anthologies, and chapbooks worldwide. His ekphrastic poetry includes nine chapbooks devoted individually to the works of Dalí, Miró, and other modern and contemporary artists. Parallels: Selected Ekphrastic Poetry, 2009-2012, is his first full-length collection.
Ellman based the following poems on Wassily Kandinsky's
1922 series of lithographs, woodcuts, and etchings called
"Small Worlds." Kandinsky (1866-1944) was an early champion of abstract painting, known for his lyrical style and innovative theories on nonfigurative art. In his 1910 treatise Concerning the Spiritual in Art, he made famous his belief that abstract colors and forms could be used to express the “inner life” of the artist. He taught this and other lessons at the Bauhaus, the historic Weimar institution that brought together artists such as Josef Albers, Lazlo Maholy-Nagy, and Piet Mondrian. In 1911 Kandinsky played a central role in organizing Der Blaue Reiter, named in part after the Russian artist’s favorite color—blue.
Small Worlds I
(after the lithograph by Wassily Kandinsky)
So tiny
their
dwarf-star eyes
new
worlds
in
miniature
firefly
sparkles
splintered
glass
collect
the sun—
when
worlds collide
small
wonder
at our
wonderment
how very
small
we are.
(after the lithograph by Wassily Kandinsky)
Hold
these worlds
in the
small of your hand
remember
them
the day
they were torn
from the
ribs of even chance
your
children, your own,
remember
them
as they
were, not now
having
come to this
these
worlds in disarray
where
anarchy makes
a fool of
providence
and
yesterday’s trust
what
future there was
has lost
its faith.
(after the woodcut by Wassily Kandinsky)
In a drop
of water
infinite
worlds
small
galaxies walk
on
primordial feet
in the
silent ooze
of time
they
gather in splashes
baptized
by rain—
so many
worlds
so little
space
to swim
with the gods
in
creation’s wake.
Small
Worlds VIII
(after
the woodcut by Wassily Kandinsky)
Measure
the dimensions
of our
worlds
with a
caliper
the
distance between
the space
between
our minds
and
through the lens
of a
microscope
calculate
the beginnings
and the
ends
half-truths
like
strangers and friends
the two
of us
in our
two worlds
separated
by our lies—
we know
no other worlds
but
these.
(after the etching/drypoint by Wassily Kandinsky)
From
creation’s muddle
to these
small worlds
from
original sin
lost
innocence
a ship in
a bottle
of my own
conceit
draw
circles in the sky
and watch
the universe recede
I
circumnavigate these globes
to know my
worlds again
mother
and father
origin of all I have become.
origin of all I have become.
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