Does anyone else think it’s a little weird that Rattle…
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Does anyone else think it’s a little weird that Rattle published two ekphrastic poems based on a town known mainly for a horrific race massacre, while completely ignoring the massacre?
Every month, Rattle hosts an ekphrastic challenge in which they provide a work of art and poets submit a poem based on the artwork for free. Each month, two winners—one chosen by the artist and the other by *Rattle’*s series editor—receive online publication and $100 each.
May 2025’s challenge was based on “Cotton Gin” by Andrea A. Gluckman, a photo of an abandoned white barn in a field. Rattle’s website does not list the location, but if you go to Gluckman’s website and find the photo, in the Around the World gallery https://www.aspexiimages.com/around-the-world-gallery , you’ll find the location is listed as Elaine, Arkansas.
If you google Elaine, you’ll find that it’s basically only known for the Elaine Massacre of 1919 https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/elaine-massacre-of-1919-1102/ , in which 237 Black people were murdered, making it one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history.
Neither Rattle’s website, nor the two ekphrastic poems it published make any mention of the massacre, though some portions of the poems take on a certain irony when set in the light of that event.
From James Gonda’s “Barn, with Weather https://rattle.com/barn-with-weather-by-james-gonda/:”
Meanwhile, the barn does
not resist being seen. It stands where put,
neither proud nor ashamed, only exact.
Here’s the comment from the artist, Andrea A. Gluckman:
“After reading the exceptional collection of poems, I chose ‘Barn, With Weather.’ Many of the poems expressed themes that are resonant and haunting—abandonment, nostalgia, and timelines of disappearance. As a visual artist, I appreciate the way that ‘Barn, With Weather’ approaches these elements—without sentimentality, but rather with a practicality and beautiful observance that meets the current cultural moment. Indeed, ‘collapse is not an event / but a series of small, careful concessions.’ The poem allows for metabolizing the beauty of vanishing without wishing otherwise.”
From A.Z. Foreman’s “Barn at the Unsaid Edge: https://rattle.com/barn-at-the-unsaid-edge-by-a-z-foreman/” https://rattle.com/barn-at-the-unsaid-edge-by-a-z-foreman/
The sky, too blue, too loud, prepares to crush
The weightless ghosts uncorked from fallen oak.
Here’s the comment from the series editor, Megan O'Reilly:
“As Andrea Gluckman’s breathtaking piece of art combines the celestial magnificence of the sky with the humble image of an aging barn in a wheat field, so ‘Barn at the Unsaid Edge’ blends rural earthiness with an ethereal, even supernatural, atmosphere. With effortless elegance and lyrical depth, Foreman depicts a scene both corporeal and otherworldly, haunted by ‘weightless ghosts’ and constructed of boards that seem to breathe. The poem’s rhyme scheme, graceful pacing, and striking use of metaphor and imagery—the barn as a ‘sullen husk’ that ‘stands like a rumor,’ the ‘prayers he nailed to rafters turned to dust’—all contribute to its haunting, deeply affecting atmosphere. Gluckman’s image promises secrets, and Foreman’s poem whispers them just loud enough to stir our imagination.”
Was it a little weird of Rattle to publish poems set in a town known only for a horrific race massacre, while totally ignoring the massacre? Or am I being dramatic?
#entertainment
Every month, Rattle hosts an ekphrastic challenge in which they provide a work of art and poets submit a poem based on the artwork for free. Each month, two winners—one chosen by the artist and the other by *Rattle’*s series editor—receive online publication and $100 each.
May 2025’s challenge was based on “Cotton Gin” by Andrea A. Gluckman, a photo of an abandoned white barn in a field. Rattle’s website does not list the location, but if you go to Gluckman’s website and find the photo, in the Around the World gallery https://www.aspexiimages.com/around-the-world-gallery , you’ll find the location is listed as Elaine, Arkansas.
If you google Elaine, you’ll find that it’s basically only known for the Elaine Massacre of 1919 https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/elaine-massacre-of-1919-1102/ , in which 237 Black people were murdered, making it one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history.
Neither Rattle’s website, nor the two ekphrastic poems it published make any mention of the massacre, though some portions of the poems take on a certain irony when set in the light of that event.
From James Gonda’s “Barn, with Weather https://rattle.com/barn-with-weather-by-james-gonda/:”
Meanwhile, the barn does
not resist being seen. It stands where put,
neither proud nor ashamed, only exact.
Here’s the comment from the artist, Andrea A. Gluckman:
“After reading the exceptional collection of poems, I chose ‘Barn, With Weather.’ Many of the poems expressed themes that are resonant and haunting—abandonment, nostalgia, and timelines of disappearance. As a visual artist, I appreciate the way that ‘Barn, With Weather’ approaches these elements—without sentimentality, but rather with a practicality and beautiful observance that meets the current cultural moment. Indeed, ‘collapse is not an event / but a series of small, careful concessions.’ The poem allows for metabolizing the beauty of vanishing without wishing otherwise.”
From A.Z. Foreman’s “Barn at the Unsaid Edge: https://rattle.com/barn-at-the-unsaid-edge-by-a-z-foreman/” https://rattle.com/barn-at-the-unsaid-edge-by-a-z-foreman/
The sky, too blue, too loud, prepares to crush
The weightless ghosts uncorked from fallen oak.
Here’s the comment from the series editor, Megan O'Reilly:
“As Andrea Gluckman’s breathtaking piece of art combines the celestial magnificence of the sky with the humble image of an aging barn in a wheat field, so ‘Barn at the Unsaid Edge’ blends rural earthiness with an ethereal, even supernatural, atmosphere. With effortless elegance and lyrical depth, Foreman depicts a scene both corporeal and otherworldly, haunted by ‘weightless ghosts’ and constructed of boards that seem to breathe. The poem’s rhyme scheme, graceful pacing, and striking use of metaphor and imagery—the barn as a ‘sullen husk’ that ‘stands like a rumor,’ the ‘prayers he nailed to rafters turned to dust’—all contribute to its haunting, deeply affecting atmosphere. Gluckman’s image promises secrets, and Foreman’s poem whispers them just loud enough to stir our imagination.”
Was it a little weird of Rattle to publish poems set in a town known only for a horrific race massacre, while totally ignoring the massacre? Or am I being dramatic?
#entertainment
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