Marc Chagall, Bride with a Fan (1911), oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
It is time, and no turning back
eyes closed in prayer, hope like a fan
fluttering, waving.
The whole world is blue
blue of bliss, or blue of sorrow?
The sky closes in, and time runs away
and the organ begins, her feet turn in response,
‘May I drown,’ she whispers
‘in love and not despair.’
She walks into the ocean of people
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Copyright © 2026 Lisa Paul. All rights reserved.
Melissa Lemay’s challenge: For your Poetics prompt today, if you haven’t already guessed, I’d like to write ekphrastic poetry about Chagall’s art. Choose one of the paintings in this post, and compose a poem about it. For an added challenge, use descriptors in your poem to describe the details in the artwork and tell us about what they are, by telling us what they are not.
A Little Bit of Everything, With Love 
Beautifully written Lisa
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