Editorial Team

Short version

To sum it all up.  This writing challenge entails drawing inspiration from Edvard Munch's painting The Yellow Log (picture above). Any piece of writing inspired by a painting or a work of art can be called ekphrastic poetry. What seems to be even more interesting though is the title of the painting "The Yellow Log".

Describe what you see in the painting(ekphrastic poem) or/and Comment how the title relates to the painting and/or how you relate to the painting using if needed the Bop poetic form but/and if you feel able to write a fable about the painting even better(no easy task) and Free verse is also allowed!

 
Find the picture of the painting and attach it to your text here:
munch.museum/exhibitions.aspx?id=208

Add: (challenge) at the end of the title of your contribution

Are you up to the challenge?

This challenge has text limit no time limit.

Longer version(more inspiring?)

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” Albert Einstein  

One might think that this multilayered poetry challenge is long overdue and because it is multilayered one contribution of course is not decisively enough or better than the other ones! 

There is a painting out there and here as you can see above "The Yellow Log" painted by Edvard Munch(Edvard Munch is mostly known for his famous painting The Scream.) 

What a thought provoking title! "The yellow log" seems to be an open invitation to Ekphrastic Poetry! 

“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” ― Leonardo da Vinci 

Is the artist calling out the poets or the critics? What do you see and what will you choose to describe or comment on? Or nothing matters but how you relate to the painting? Only you know and we are looking forward to read your contribution!

Concerning modern ekphrastic poetry

As described on poets.org. “modern ekphrastic poems have generally shrugged off antiquity’s obsession with elaborate description, and instead have tried to interpret, inhabit, confront, and speak to their subjects.”

You can find some inspiring examples(Auden and the shield of Achilles, Stealing the Scream by Monica Youn etc.) and read more about Ekphrasis here: 
http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/ekphrasis-poetry-confronting-art

Poetic forms:
The Bop/Free verse/Fable

If you choose to write a poem concerning the title and how it relates to the painting and life in general you may use The Bop poetic form and in case you find the following brainstorming useful: 

What does the title of the painting alludes to? Did the artist himself paraphrase the known adage instead of rehashing? > can't see the wood for the tree(s)? also known as: can't see the forest for the trees meaning Losing sight of the big picture by getting mired in details? What kind of conversation and perhaps chance for introspection did the artist try to ignite? Or does the painter give us a hint with the not as noticeable tree rings of the ready to be exploited yellow log(s)?

Or is it  simply so that appearances deceive? One should not only pay attention to what one has been told to pay attention to(in this case the defining title of the painting)? 

The bop 

“the Bop is a form of poetic argument consisting of three stanzas, each stanza followed by a repeated line, or refrain, and each undertaking a different purpose in the overall argument of the poem.

The first stanza (six lines long) states the problem, and the second stanza (eight lines long) explores or expands upon the problem. If there is a resolution to the problem, the third stanza (six lines long) finds it. If a substantive resolution cannot be made, then this final stanza documents the attempt and failure to succeed.

Although it is a young form, the Bop already exists in variations. In addition to the three-stanza Bop, some have added a six-line fourth stanza, still ending on the refrain. A good example of how a Bop introduces the crisis at hand, is a poem by Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon…”

Excerpt from http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/poetic-form-bop

Don't forget to add to the title of your contribution the following: (Challenge)in order to let other visitors know that you participate in the Challenge Theme proposed here. Perhaps your contribution will inspire someone else to join our writing challenge or read the rest of the contributions!

How to include your contribution to the challenge?  

Read our How-To guide. A guide on how to archive your contribution to the challenge theme & how to find the available writing challenges: 

poetbay.com/viewText.php?textId=90568

Find out more about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_verse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fable

Find the picture of the painting
and attach it to your text here:
munch.museum/exhibitions.aspx?id=208


If you are not familiar with the aforementioned painting The Scream see it here:
google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/the-scream/eQFdRTFKDtVQ1A?projectId=art-project