Neil Ellman- Three Poems

Black Fire I
(after the painting by Barnett Newman)

At the beginning white
the end black fire
the eyes see only darkness
invisible flames
not what they wished for
behind translucent lids
their lives eclipsed
by too-red fire
too hot to feel or see
too black to understand.



Double Gray Scramble
(after the painting by Frank Stella)

The opposite of opposite
its opposite
attracts multiple
incongruities
the warp and weave
in the waves of time
possibilities converge
contradictions emerge
itselves diverge
observe the paradox
of opposite lives
chaos to matterless matter
nothing matters
but this me and now.



What is Gravity?
(after the screenprint by Ralf Winkler
aka A.R. Penck)

Whatever it is
It keeps me here
hog-tied, bound and fettered
like a rodeo calf
or a dog on a leash
unable to move or escape
your arms.

Whatever it is
I am Newton’s apple
fallen from a tree
to lie by your side
and hug the earth
shackled to your body
never free
of your embrace.

Whatever it is
we are together now
and forever
hamstrung and betrothed
till death do us part.



Neil Ellman, a poet from New Jersey, has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net and the Rhysling Award.  Close to 1000 of his poems, many of which are ekphrastic and written in response to works of modern and contemporary art, appear in print and online journal, anthologies and chapbooks throughout the world.