Ekphrastic #5: My brutal beauty

A reflection on a blown glass art piece

“Wabenobjekte” (Honeycomb Object) by Jorg Zimmerman (b. 1940), German. Blown glass, 1989. Owned by and displayed at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art.

To listen to the audio version of this publication, please click here:

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I wrote this poem last summer—August 2024—and I’m publishing it on a wintry mid-morning, as large snowflakes swirl outside my office window and rest on a white blanket, where sparrows and chickadees hop and peck at the black oil sunflower seeds released (probably by squirrels) from the bird feeder Ben made me. It’s shaped like a wooden rectangular prism and reminds me of an old-fashioned lantern. Inside is an upside down empty (and clean) wine bottle, which houses the birdseed.

So, I forget what message this poem might reveal to you today, because it exited my mind several months ago. I wrote it on a whim of spontaneous inspiration, while patrons whisked around me in the glass wing of our local art museum. That evening, I scribbled furiously on a small notebook I kept in my purse, and which had been inside it for nearly a year before I broke it open for this—or any—purpose.

Mostly, I rushed through this poem, because I do not like being watched. I don’t like crowds. When I write, I want to be alone with myself and my innermost thoughts. I want to take my time. Please forgive me if these words are disorganized or confusing.

What I do remember is the art piece that inspired what you will read below. It was a blown glass piece with a honeycomb pattern, and what intrigued me was the hole in its center, which revealed jagged edges nestled at the bottom of the orb. The colors, rich brown and amber, and yes, honey, invited me to peer inside. And when I did, I was both horrified and fascinated.

Therefore, this poem is the result of that reaction:

Maybe I am
Unshapely
To you,
A fragile irony
Of glass and wire.

I will astound you
When you discover
The passageway into my
Center

My most vulnerable
Wound.

Do you dare
To peer inside?

Will the chaos you witness
Terrify you,
Or invite you into my
Brutal beauty?

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If you enjoyed reading this Ekphrastic poem, would you mind checking out a few others I’ve written and shared here?

Ekphrastic #3: You are parts of a whole

Ekphrastic #2: The fractals of change

Ekphrastic #1: Of humble origins