Images By Michael Escoubas
Besides the uniqueness of ekphrastic poems from the outset, this new collection of poems by Michael Escoubas is also quite original as it is a companion book to Sharmagne Leland St.-John’s own poetry book of the same name. They used the same images and the same title for each of their books. Leland St. John is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief and Escoubas is Editor and Book Reviewer for “Scribe and Quill.”
Amazon USA“Images”
A Collection of Ekphrastic Poetry
By Michael Escoubas
148 pages
ISBN: 978-81-8253-761-3
Cyberwit
www.cyberwit.net
Copyright 2021
Review by LB Sedlacek
Besides the uniqueness of ekphrastic poems from the outset, this new collection of poems by Michael Escoubas is also quite original as it is a companion book to Sharmagne Leland St.-John’s own poetry book of the same name. They used the same images and the same title for each of their books. Leland St. John is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief and Escoubas is Editor and Book Reviewer for “Scribe and Quill.”
Escoubas has a way of bringing the art to life with his words. From the poem, “Gentlemen in Black” after “The Magpie” by Claude Monet: “After a fresh fall of snow / the magpie shakes snow-salt / off his wings.” You can easily imagine this picture whether you’ve seen it or not from these opening lines. The painting by Monet appears to be of a backyard in the snow.
From the poem “Vibrations in Color” after “Pines and Rocks” by Paul Cezanne: …”Like pines / whose roots find soil in rocks / you moved the rocks inch by inch / until you became the bridge / between Monet and Picasso / you exchanged a palette of dark / colors for Nature’s soul-lifting / presence….” This particular painting is of a forest scene. Escoubas takes you into the painting and then beyond it. It’s an all encompassing experience to see the art, feel it and then be transported in and around it by such inspired verses.
These poems are wonderous, thought-provoking, and welcoming. It is a sensitive journey of art elevating poetry and vice versa. The poems expand and explore the works of arts themselves leading the reader into a cerebral and refreshing comparison of two types of creative expression.
From the poem “Deserted Beach”
after a watercolor by Luis Cámera
“her life was the sand
and the sky and the twilight
not the pock-marked beach
nor the brown grass
waving helplessly in the breeze
nor the brittle fence
that could not keep them apart”
This collection is an emotional embodiment and perfect blend of the marriage between art, creativity and poetry. These poems rejuvenate the art. These poems uplift and accentuate the art with an accessible overall tone, and deep examinations of what lies beyond the colors and words on the page.
~LB Sedlacek is the author of the poetry collections “I’m No ROBOT,” “This Space Available,” “Words and Bones,” “The Blue Eyed Side,” “Simultaneous Submissions,” “Swim,” and “The Poet Next Door.” Her non-fiction books include “The Poet Protection Plan” and “Electric Melt: How to Write, Publish, Read Walt Whitman and Survive as a Writer and Poet). Her short story collection is entitled “Four Thieves of Vinegar & Other Short Stories.” She writes poetry reviews for www.thepoetrymarket.com You can find out more: www.lbsedlacek.com