We need a piece of art to inspire ekphrastic poetry, which is when a poem is written in response to a piece of artwork, a painting, a photograph, sculpture, or other form of visual art. If you are writing ekphrastic poetry for yourself and you don’t care to publish it on a blog, in a magazine, or book then you can write in response to artwork that you find anywhere online or in books.

If on the other hand you want to publish the image with your poetry or writing, then you need to consider copyright and publishing permissions.

It is great if you have a friend who paints fabulous art and is happy for you to write ekphrastic poetry about their work. Sometimes a well-know artist will give you permission to publish photographs of their art along with your writing.

Check with a lawyer for more details on copyright law if you feel so inclined.

There are several ways to find artwork that is copyright free or in the public domain. If the work is not copyrighted or has been released into the public domain, then you are free to write your poetry and publish your work alongside an image of the artwork.

Using A Word Document Search for Art

Say I want to write a poem about dogs, and I am writing on my computer in a WORD document, I can hit the “insert” tab, click on the “picture” tab, and then on “online pictures.” A search bar comes up and I put in “dog art.” A hundred or so pictures come up. This one was my favorite.

Randy

The artist captured Randy perfectly
his white and brown ears
set off by his black collar
his name tag jangling when he ran
eyes, nose, and mouth jet black
contrasting with white
a touch of blue around the eyes and lips
a study in black and white
in life surrounded by colors
blues, purples, and yellows
flowers he dug up
raspberries he loved
human food he snapped at
but most of all I remember him
with the sunsets he watched by my side

This picture and so many others could be used to create an ekphrastic children’s book of poetry and art.

Google Image Search

Another way to find images that can be published is to open up Google and search for your topic (ie) “Chinese Art.” Google will return 14 million websites with Chinese art. Click on “Images” and then to the upper right on “Tools.” A bar with “Usage Rights” will pop up. Click on “Creative Commons licenses.” Many of the pictures that show up under “Creative Commons licenses” are from Wikipedia, and other free image sites.

Wikipedia often has a lot of information about pictures that are copyright free. Use Google or go directly to Wikipedia and search for the images that you want.

This one at Wikimedia.org can be found through Google or Wikipedia.

The following poem uses AnthAdi, a poetry style used in Tamizh or Tamil literature, where the last word of the previous line is repeated in some form in the first word of the next line. I learned about this style from Nikita Parik’s “Circles”, July 2020 Editor’s Choice in the Rattle  Ekphrastic Challenge. Note that the Rattle has monthly ekphrastic poetry challenges where they post a picture and accept submissions for several weeks.

Sun Lit Lotuses

Facing the sunlight
sun lit lotuses in a sea of gold
golden light contrasting white
white and pink flowers
floral green rooted in mud
muddy soil nourishing roots
roots grounded in white and pink
pink lotuses turn upward facing

The poet or writer can also go directly to Flickr https://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/. Flickr has a list of different kinds of licenses including Public Domain Dedication, which means anyone can publish it with or without attribution. There is another category, Attribution, which means it can be published but only with attribution. Here is one image that shows up under “Chinese Art” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/5549004773. Note the Public Domain symbol on this page with the image.

Dragon Fire

She smelled the smoke before
the dragon red and gold lit up
as if from the yellow sky sun setting
over the wall of solid stone
immune to fire
birds flying up and away from the red earth

Pixabay and Pxhere are two other sources of free images that can be found through Google or directly on Pixabay or Pxhere sites.

Here are two images that come up when searching for “water artwork.”

Creative Commons (CC0 Public Domain) is another way to find artwork that is “Free for personal and commercial use. No attribution required.”

To find more images that you can publish later with no worries of copyright infringement go to Creative Commons and check the box for commercial use. Search for your topic. Seventeen images come up for “black lives matter artwork.” This is one of them.

If You Wrote

A poem on this wall
with a thick black marker
about Black Lives Matter
in contrasting white or blue space
say what
would you write
of your personal experience
about a friend or lover
what words would flow
over the wall
into a new reality

Find a picture and write an ekphrastic poem today. What will you write as you merge poetry and art. Will it be about nature, color, politics or …?

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Kimberly Burnham has lived in tropical Colombia; in Belgium during the Vietnam War; in Japan teaching businessmen English; in diverse international Toronto, Canada, and several places in the US. Now, she’s in Spokane, WA with her wife, Elizabeth, two sets of twins (age 11 & 14) and three dogs. Her recent book, Awakenings: Peace Dictionary, Language and the Mind, a Daily Brain Health Program includes the word for peace in hundreds of languages. Her poetry weaves through 60 + volumes of The Year of the Poet, Inspired by Gandhi, Women Building the World, A Woman’s Place in the Dictionary, Tiferet Journal and more. She is currently working on two ekphrastic writing projects. One is a novel, Art Thief Cracks Healing Code for Parkinson’s Disease and the other is a how-to non-fiction book, Using Ekphrastic Fiction Writing and Poetry to Create Interest and Promote Artists, Writers, and Poets. Both will be published by the end of 2020 http://www.NerveWhisperer.Solutions. Using Ekphrastic Fiction Writing and Poetry will be on free download on November 8, 2020 at   https://www.nervewhisperer.solutions/peace-poetry/category/ekphrastic-poetry