Tropical Storm
Ekphrastic Challenge September 2022
This poem was written in response to the Rattle® Poetry Ekphrastic Challenge for September 2022 and was ultimately not selected. You can find more information here.
https://www.rattle.com/ekphrastic/
The image that this poem was specifically written about can be found here. (September 2022 – Bonnie Riedinger’s “Take Heart”)
https://i0.wp.com/www.rattle.com/ekphrasis/EC22Sep.jpg?ssl=1
Tropical Storm
Passion fruit rum and pineapple juice
Shaken like Elvis shook his hips
Lies beneath vodka and blue curacao
Sapphire and gold swirled over crystal
A treasure-laden chest
Sunken beneath cerulean waters
With a little umbrella floating on top
A tropical storm in my glass
A hurricane in my mind
The aftermath in my heart
But don’t worry, the blue will be
On the bottom soon enough
I spin the umbrella between my fingers
As I drain this concoction into my mouth
Bartender, keep them coming
My fiancé left me, you see
Right on the alter
White dress and all
This was to be
Our honeymoon
But why let good tickets go to waste
No better place
To spirit the broken heart away
Than a tropical island
So bartender, I’ll take another
Passion fruit rum and pineapple juice
Vodka and blue curacao
And over the umbrella
I spy handsome eyes
Staring at me
So I smile back
A tropical storm in my glass
And perhaps in my bed tonight
Submitted under MRB
About the Creator
Rae Fairchild (MRB)
I love to write; putting pen to paper fills my heart and calms my soul!
Rae Fairchild is my pen name. (Because why not? Pseudonyms are cool!)
I do publish elsewhere under my real name, Mary Rae Butler. (Fairchild, an old family surname.)
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This poem was written in response to the Rattle® Poetry Ekphrastic Challenge for October 2022 and was ultimately not selected. You can find more information here. https://www.rattle.com/ekphrastic/ The image that this poem was specifically written about can be found here. (October 2022 – René Bohnen’s “Ballet Above the Bay”) https://i0.wp.com/www.rattle.com/ekphrasis/EC22Oct.jpg?ssl=1
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