How can one capture living light with paint
And make it move, or grasp a glimpse of time
And translate it to canvas, from the faint
Stone’s shadows to strong sunbeams, make it rhyme
Reality? I see, and I am stopped,
Struck by the detail, stilled by majesty.
An artist dared create; now I am dropped
Into the glory of Yosemite.

Painters and poets, like the prophets, point
To truths oft hiding right before our faces.
They look upon creation and anoint
With holy purpose e’en the commonplaces.
They see then sow the seeds of what they saw,
Thus fostering in us the fruit of awe.

Albert Bierstadt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Every Friday in November’s poetry challenge was dedicated to a different poetic form, giving us an opportunity to stretch ourselves a bit. This second Form Friday poem is an Ekphrastic, where the poem is a response to a painting or some other work of art. I chose Bierstadt’s painting after seeing it on one of Russ Ramsey’s Art Wednesday posts (see here).