An ekphrastic poem is inspired by a work of art. “The Allure of Home” is inspired by Georges Seurat’s painting, Port En Bessin The Outer Harbor Low Tide.
Salty wind pushes at the falling tide. Blue serenity veils the town as a melancholy buzz flows through the idle docks. A boat pushes through the harbor: It drifts along, lazily down. The sun naps behind thick blankets of wool, but begins to rouse. Peeking out of its weft to cast soft rays of light onto the cobblestone streets. And as the fresnel lens sinks on the coast to become a buoy in the skyline, the town traps a yawn behind its teeth as the edge of the earth dampens the day. The hushed waves brush their fingers, lightly against the stone village. Tapping and lapping away at the sand floor. The fish, under the film of the lulling water nest on cool rock, And snuggle into gentle wedges, hiding from the retreating hooks as their dreams begin to float to the surface.
Nitya Dave is a creative writing student finishing her junior year at Pembroke Pines Charter High School. She won first place in PPCHS’s 2021-22 Ekphrastic Poem and Ode contests and second place in the Ekphrastic poem category at the 2021-22 Broward County Literary Fair for “The Allure of Home.”
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