Riffing on Love with Marc Chagall

Riffing is what jazz musicians do when they go “off script” and play variations on the main musical thread. Or what improv performers do to build on an original skit by taking it in a new direction.

Poets riff too, when creating what’s called ekphrastic poetry. The word comes from the Greek and means “to speak out” or “to show in full.”

In an ekphrastic poem, the poet reflects on a piece of visual art, maybe a painting or sculpture, and then responds to it by writing.

You, my faithful followers, will know that this is one of my favourite types of poetry, and that I often find inspiration from photos I’ve taken.

I recently attended a workshop led by the lovely Lorette Luzajic at The Ekphrastic Review. Over two hours, Lorette showed us five different pieces of art – paintings, sculpture and even a hawk mask from the Kwakwaka’wakw people of British Columbia. Each time we had 10 minutes to write in response.

I know! I can’t think of anything more fun either!

One of the paintings was “Birthday” by Marc Chagall (1887-1985). You can see what it looks like here. Lorette explained that Marc Chagall was propelled as an artist by two subjects: love, and his Russian-Jewish cultural background. Everything he created was a celebration of these themes. When he painted “Birthday” in 1915, Chagall had just been granted permission to marry the love of his life, Bella Rosenfeld, from her parents. The couple is shown levitating with joy.

Here is my riff on love and culture:

FOR LOVE

Mary Margaret McSorley, 
who insisted her middle name was Marguerite 
also insisted, in 1923
she’d marry Stephen Granger
for love.

Stephen’s real name
was István Gerencsér
his Hungarian-ness only one thing 
he had to hide in 1920s Buffalo –
the bigger secret
was his divorce
rendering him in the state of New York
unable to marry again
pending a petition to a judge
which he never sought.

Instead, they drove to Batavia
to marry in secret
and then returned to Buffalo
the marriage kept secret 
so Mary could continue to work at the telephone office
something forbidden to married women.

My grandparents’ forbidden love
defiant love
a foundational love
in my family.

For me, there’s nothing like the delight I feel when my imagination takes off, sparked by another kind of art altogether!

You can try this yourself, why not? Reflect a bit on a favourite piece of art, maybe research something about the artist’s inspiration or theme then ask yourself what you have to say about this particular theme. What does this piece reminds you of? What do feel when you look at it? What would you add to what the artist has created? Your response could be a story, a short essay, stained glass, fabric collage, a song…

See what you come up with when you allow yourself to riff for just 10 minutes. You may be surprised!

Lee Ann