Konsolas & Slesinski – Baltimore Ekphrasis Project

Minás Konsolas and Anna Slesinksi traded art and words. Minás shared this painting, entitled “Broken Mirror,” with Anna:

In response, Anna wrote this poem:

Until Now

I am sorry
that winter is here, that our season
ended with a sudden frost and plants
dying in their beds

I am sorry
we are not still in the trees
hanging like green lungs
over the lake

and I am sorry
we are not in the water, our bare legs kicking
crawling onto the rocks
looking up and eating the sun

I am sorry
the pink blossoms have all died, and that
we could not tell the truth
to one another until now

* * * * *

Anna shared this poem with Minás:

Planting

I have lost my curtain.
Sun sits on the wall above my bed,
a yellow square, and I

am round and warm like a seed
listening to roots rustling
in my skull, light tumbling

down over my bitterest parts
and the city outside. I look out and see
we were never there

yet your face is reflected in the buildings
around me, watching my window
watching the wild things I am planting.

In response, Minás made this untitled painting: