Ekphrastic #4: The light and shadows inside me

Go to the place where "everyone and everything is immortal," as artist Tim Tate says.

“Intimation of Immortality” by Tim Tate—cast polyvitro, lacquer, mirror, and LED lights, 2017; Fort Wayne Museum of Art

For an audio version of this post, please listen here:

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Before I begin with my Ekphrastic poem, I want to share with you the description of this piece that was included with the title and artist in the glass wing of the art museum. It’s so fascinating, and I think it lends texture and context to the visual:

Blending a traditional craft with new media technology, Tim Tate is spearheading a new glass movement. Departing from the 20th century’s heavy emphasis of form and technique, Tate believes that the new century of glass sculpture will be defined by artistic vision. “Intimation of Immortality” is a prime example of Tate’s interest in combining glass with technology. Likely inspired by the traumatic experience of losing many friends to the AIDS epidemic, the artist states, “The beauty of endless mirrors is in creating a space that exists nowhere else on Earth. It is said that if you see past 13 images, you are seeing into the next world. Therefore, somewhere in that ambiguous zone between our world and infinity is the place where worlds meet. That’s the place to be. It is the place where, if only for a brief moment, everything and everyone is immortal.”

Is it true
That some things
Go on forever?

I want to touch
The panes
That divide us,
Imagine we are
One…

But invisible walls
Separate.

I find myself
Drowning in the
Abyss
Of these dark caverns,
Where somehow
My identity ends
Abruptly.

Have I changed?

On and on
The light and shadows
Rotate inside me
But I have lost myself.

Am I an illusion,
Or have I entered
A realm I cannot see?

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If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check out my experiment writing other Ekphrastic poems:

Ekphrastic #1: Of humble origins

Ekphrastic #2: The fractals of change

Ekphrastic #3: You are parts of a whole