A beautiful blue grey painting . A naked woman lies on the ground arms crossed over her face, hair cascading like water. From the ground view behind her we see two pillars either side with heraldry patterns. The pillars lead to trees. There are scattered bare branches visible over her arms.

A beige piece of art with pleasing lines forming rectangle shapes, squares and other shapes like a tetris game. The shapes have various matching shades from black to grey to brown and beige.

A face with a large mouth and protruding tongue that is shaped like a plectrum. The eyes are covered with a plant. The plant has fronds waving up vertically and flowing from them rises a stream of water with a duck. Either side of the blue water are grey clouds with birds..

For #ekphrasticchallenge2025 hosted by @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social
#haiku

SEB30
Her beautiful hands
Hair cascading in the cold
Arms crossed for defence

JZ30
Chill beige colouring
Modern lines for autumn days
Architectural

SK30
Plectrum of nature
Sonic perception of life
Cloud flying vision

On the final day of the #EkphrasticChallenge2025 devised by Paul Brookes @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social here's my response to the image SEB 30 ‘Oh, the Dreadful Wind and Rain’ by artist Sara Bell @sbsartistrees.bsky.social
Many thanks to Paul and Sara
#vsspoem #poetrycommunity #NaPoWriMo

Ekphrastic Challenge 2025. Day Thirty. Please join John Curry, Debbie Ross, Matt Guntrip, Anish Gupta, Phil Hyde, Donna Faulkner, Francis H Powell, Judy Smith , Sheikha A, Mick Jenkinson, Rituparna, S... JZ30 SK30 SEB30 Jz 30Circle Among SquaresThey built walls with precision,measured every breath,counted the spaces where longing could not spill.I was the roundness they forgot to contain,the soft d…

#Ekphrasticchallenge2025 Day Thirty. Congratulations to all contributors on completing our 2025 adventure. All are welcome. Please post your responses below to one, two, or all three of the artworks.
thewombwellrainbow.com/2025/04/30/e...

A boulevard of tall trees with two children walking down the avenue with mother behind in a long coat. It’s winter and the trees are bare and the sky is grey. On the avenue sides the bark is covered in pale green lichen and moss up to the height of the children. You can see the tree roots and there are hearts of love scattered throughout them.

A your country needs you pose by a blonde woman with a top hat with a star. She is pointing with her right hand and underneath her first finger are the words “YOU ARE THE ENEMY WITHIN”.

Green entwined stalks with large leaves below red flowers. Behind them is a woman with long dark hair tied back. Her arms are red flowers and from her hair bloom rays of sunlight.

#haiku
#Ekphrasticchallenge2025
for @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social
#poetry

SEB29
Winter tree pathway
Children walking over roots
Love under the ground

JZ29
Blonde hair perfection
The challenge is in her eyes
Liberty calling

SK29
Woman in flower
Natural green for her rouge
Flame kindling desire

Here's my response to the image SEB 29 ‘Walking With’ by artist Sara Bell @sbsartistrees.bsky.social Thanks to Paul Brookes @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for devising and hosting the #EkphrasticChallenge2025

#vsspoem #poet #poetrycommunity #NaPoWriMo

Ekphrastic Challenge 2025. Day Twenty-Ninth. Please join John Curry, Debbie Ross, Matt Guntrip, Phil Hyde, Donna Faulkner, Francis H Powell, Judy Smith , Sheikha A, Rituparna, and I as we respond to t... SEB29 JZ29 SK29 Donna Faulkner Jz 29She Speaks,They PointShe stands at the center,not askingnot apologizing.The stars on her hat burn brighterthan the ones on the flag they guard so fiercelynot for…

#Ekphrasticchallenge2025 Day Twenty-Nine. All are welcome. Please post your responses below to one, two, or all three of the artworks.
thewombwellrainbow.com/2025/04/29/e...

Thankyou to the artists #SaraElizabethBell #JennZed #SprihaKant for the inspiration
Thanks
@paulbrookes
@thewombwellrainbow.bsky
#ekphrasticchallenge2025

I didn't quite make the #ekphrasticchallenge2025
A warrior on a course I fell into a muddy puddle, struggled to get out.
Pulled up by great art lovely poems by others I lifted out just made the finish line.
I admire all who stuck to it.
Enjoyable, challenging, fun
Thanks @thewombwellrainbow.com

Iconic gothic punk girl in black. She is looking up and her hair, already spiky looks dramatic as if in motion. She has black makeup.

A bare winter tree on a slope in a cold grey day. The roots underground touch three hearts drawing life from Gaia in the cold.

A collage of leaves a trunk, stones and butterflies on a white background.

For #ekphrasticchallenge2025 Day 28
#haiku #senryu

JZ28
Punk girl in her prime
Raven scattergun hairstyle
So dare if you will

SEB28
Winter tree held fast
The heart of Gaia below
Bare branches waiting

SK28
Biosphere haven
Butterfly bonanza park
Leaf loving life forms

Ekphrastic Challenge 2025. Day Twenty-Eighth. Please join Debbie Ross, Matt Guntrip, Anish Gupta, Phil Hyde, Donna Faulkner, Francis H Powell, Judy Smith , Sheikha A, Rituparna, John Armstrong, and I ... SK28 SEB28 JZ28Waiting to LoveEarth-rooted,nourishedby all that has gone before.Waiting to burstinto new life,learning to love again.-Debbie RossJz 28Becoming the StormThere was no moment of revela…

#Ekphrasticchallenge2025 Day Twenty-Eight. All are welcome. Please post your responses below to one, two, or all three of the artworks.
thewombwellrainbow.com/2025/04/28/e...

Here's my response to the image SEB 28 ‘Waiting to Love’ by artist Sara Bell @sbsartistrees.bsky.social Thanks to Paul Brookes @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for devising and hosting the #EkphrasticChallenge2025

#vsspoem #poet #poetrycommunity #NaPoWriMo

Ekphrastic Challenge 2025. Day Twenty-Eighth. Please join Debbie Ross, Matt Guntrip, Anish Gupta, Phil Hyde, Donna Faulkner, Francis H Powell, Judy Smith , Sheikha A, Rituparna, John Armstrong, and I ... SK28 SEB28 JZ28Waiting to LoveEarth-rooted,nourishedby all that has gone before.Waiting to burstinto new life,learning to love again.-Debbie RossJz 28Becoming the StormThere was no moment of revela…

#Ekphrasticchallenge2025 Day Twenty-Eight. All are welcome. Please post your responses below to one, two, or all three of the artworks.
thewombwellrainbow.com/2025/04/28/e...

A bleak painting of a bed on a shiny surface against a wall that’s vertically split with dark at the pillow end then light on to the foot end and beyond, so it looks like it’s in a corner. The floor is shiny & clinical. The walls and skirting look bleak & bedraggled. The colours are white and grey.

A giant butterfly against a pink hued sky. It’s surrounded by an entwined helix pattern of branches from two crossed trees. The trees are on a hill and the roots are visible underground. There’s a spattered coloured border on the top & left and right sides. The underground around the roots has many beautiful colours.

A pair of large grey boots as if made from a statue walk to the left. On top, driving the boots are some multi coloured tulips. The boots leave behind some mud which further to the right leads to a concrete pillar then a large brown tree trunk. It has two branches but no leaves. On the right branch is a huge parrot like bird, red with yellow blue and green bands. Between the pillar and tree is a small brown pattern a bit like a cushion. No sky, just white background.

For #EkphrasticChallenge2025 Day 27 & host @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social #haiku

JZ27
Bleakness in the walls
Comfort of oblivion
For a cornered mind

SEB27
Butterfly blooming
Every cell transformed for flight
Moments awaiting

SK27
Pillar of support
Walking away with nature
Wisdom in the wind

Here's my response to the image SEB 27 ‘Finally Complete Magnificence’ by artist Sara Bell @sbsartistrees.bsky.social Thanks to Paul Brookes @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for devising and hosting the #EkphrasticChallenge2025

#vsspoem #poet #poetrycommunity #NaPoWriMo

Ekphrastic Challenge 2025. Day Twenty-Seventh. Please join John Curry, Debbie Ross, Matt Guntrip, Anish Gupta, Phil Hyde, Donna Faulkner, Francis H Powell, Judy Smith , Sheikha A, Rituparna, John Arms... JZ27 SK27 SEB27 ButterfliesFragile miraclesof metamorphosis.Never judge a caterpillarfor its diet.-Debbie RossJz27Vacant Spacetidy empty bed smooth silver-grey sheetsnot all is black or white absen…

#Ekphrasticchallenge2025 Day Twenty-Seven. All are welcome. Please post your responses below to one, two, or all three of the artworks.
thewombwellrainbow.com/2025/04/27/e...

Here's my response to the image SEB 26 ‘Moonflower Bed’ by artist Sara Bell @sbsartistrees.bsky.social Thanks to Paul Brookes @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for devising and hosting the #EkphrasticChallenge2025

#vsspoem #poet #poetrycommunity #NaPoWriMo

Ekphrastic Challenge 2025. Day Twenty-Six. Please join John Curry, Debbie Ross, Matt Guntrip, Anish Gupta, Phil Hyde, Donna Faulkner, Francis H Powell, Judy Smith , Sheikha A, Rituparna, John Armstron... SEB26 SK26 JZ26 Moonflower bed (SEB 26)MoonflowersMorning Glory and night glory too -scented foodfor mothsand other pollinators too,perfuming sleepwith fragrant dreams. -Debbie Ross Jz 26Creation’s…

#Ekphrasticchallenge2025 Day Twenty-Six. All are welcome. Please post your responses below to one, two, or all three of the artworks.
thewombwellrainbow.com/2025/04/26/e...

From @dragonslayerma.bsky.social's #PromptCombo #FavouritePlace, @brokenspinearts.bsky.social's #WolfAtTheDoor or daily #vss365 to @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social's #ekphrasticchallenge2025 the evidence is plain: the #poetrycommunity is one of the most dynamic & mutually supportive networks on here

Here's my response to the image SEB 25 ‘Jon's Trees’ by artist Sara Bell @sbsartistrees.bsky.social Thanks to Paul Brookes @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social l for devising and hosting the #EkphrasticChallenge2025

#vsspoem #poet #poetrycommunity #NaPoWriMo

Ekphrastic Challenge 2025. Day Twenty-Five. Please join John Curry, Debbie Ross, Matt Guntrip, Anish Gupta, Phil Hyde, Donna Faulkner, Francis H Powell, Judy Smith , Sheikha A, Rituparna, John Armstro... SK25 JZ25 SEB25 Jon’s TreesOld friends,roots entwinedcanopies leaning incompanionably.-Debbie Ross Jz 25Modern MadonnaShe sits inside the quiet.Not hiding, not waiting—just there.No one sees the we…

#Ekphrasticchallenge2025 Day Twenty-Five. All are welcome. Please post your responses below to one, two, or all three of the artworks.
thewombwellrainbow.com/2025/04/25/e...

Magical wodland water scene in morning mist. Sunlight glittering on deep green clear water. The tall trees surrounding the water are in leaf and there is low mist around the base of their trunks. The sky is blue and cloudy.

Butterfly life cycle from chrysalis to pupated adult orange butterfly. To the right is a scaled stem and in the background white flowers. Two circles highlight the chrysalis and the adult.

Red flowers on twisted entwined stalks. Protruding from the top of the stalks that are higher than the flowers, are tiny red figures dancing. The background is white.

4 #Ekphrasticchallenge2025 Day 24 & @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social
#haiku
#poetry

JZ24
Magical woodland
Late morning mist on water
Life in perfection

SEB24
Chewing to pupate
Chrysalis transformation
Monarch majesty

SK24
Every strand of life
Challenges bound and entwined
The flower of growth

Here's my response to the image SEB 24 ‘Monarch Cycles’ by artist Sara Bell @sbsartistrees.bsky.social Thanks to Paul Brookes @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for devising and hosting the #EkphrasticChallenge2025

#vsspoem #poet #poetrycommunity #NaPoWriMo

A moonlit scene. Three moon nymphs in flowing gowns that drape into roots stand below a waxing crescent moon shape. There are dark clouds rocks and grey flowing shapes. From behind you can see their long hair and elegant gowns.

Water pouring over a rocky edge. You can see Lillie’s in the pool below and green vegetation including ferns and yellow and pink flowers.

A silver moon shape covered in contours and patterns on a dark background . There’s a silver cloud underneath the moon that is wide like a cloud, that thins to a tail below.

For #ekphrasticchallenge2025 @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social
Day 23

JZ23
Moon nymphs in silver
Magic rooted mystery
The pull of Luna

SEB23
The face of water
Trickling over the smooth rock
Pink blooms looking on

SK23
Dappled moon texture
Silver grey light from the sun
Contours of comets

#haiku

Ekphrastic Challenge 2025. Day Twenty-Three. Please join John Curry, Debbie Ross, Matt Guntrip, Anish Gupta, Phil Hyde, Donna Faulkner, Francis H Powell, Judy Smith , Sheikha A, Rituparna, John Armstr... SEB23 JZ23 SK23 Coleman Boundary FallColeman Boundary TrickleA trickle of silverin the sunlightas spectacular as larger falls,water spreadinglightand lifeinto cragsand boulders,flowers rewardingthe…

#Ekphrasticchallenge2025 Day Twenty-Three. All are welcome. Please post your responses below to one, two, or all three of the artworks.
thewombwellrainbow.com/2025/04/23/e...

Here's my response to the image SEB23 ‘Coleman Boundary Trickle’ by artist Sara Bell @sbsartistrees.bsky.social Thanks to Paul Brookes @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for devising and hosting the #EkphrasticChallenge2025

#vsspoem #poet #poetrycommunity #NaPoWriMo

Dramatic picture of two red long cloak style drapes standing over a life form that has expired emitting red butterflies. There’s grey and blue smoke.

Tree trunk & roots through brown spent leaves on the ground; new life flourishes including red variegated leaves and a new flower, (a bit like a Canterbury Bell, so white) .

4 Green stems with wide spear shaped leaves, and deep red flowers on a white background.

JZ22
Explosive demise
What power in red above ?
Scattering petals

SEB22
Hepaticas bloom
Green moss on bark admiring
Feuilles d'hier ci-dessous*

*Yesterday’s leaves below (didn’t scan to five)

SK22
Red flower blooming
Stems inter twining like love
Strong green of intent

#ekphrasticchallenge2025

Here's my response to the image SEB 22 ‘Hepaticas in Bloom’ by artist Sara Bell @sbsartistrees.bsky.social Thanks to Paul Brookes @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for devising and hosting the #EkphrasticChallenge2025

#vsspoem #poet #poetrycommunity #NaPoWriMo

Ekphrastic Challenge 2025. Day Twenty-Two. Please join Debbie Ross, Matt Guntrip, Anish Gupta, Phil Hyde, Donna Faulkner, Francis H Powell, Judy Smith , Sheikha A, Rituparna, John Armstrong, Oormila V. Prahlad and I as we respond to the daily artworks of Sara Elizabeth Bell, Jenn Zed, and Spriha Kant. Day Twenty-Two. April 22nd. SK22 SEB22 JZ22 Jz 22The Last OracleThey sealed her mouth with silence long ago, but silence is not absence.It lingers. It hums beneath the skin of time.Once, she lay beneath red velvet, her body a…

#Ekphrasticchallenge2025 Day Twenty-Two. All are welcome. Please post your responses below to one, two, or all three of the artworks.
thewombwellrainbow.com/2025/04/22/e...

Here's my response to the image SEB 21 ‘Sharing the Story’ by artist Sara Bell @sbsartistrees.bsky.social Thanks to Paul Brookes @thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social for devising and hosting the #EkphrasticChallenge2025

#vsspoem #poet #poetrycommunity #NaPoWriMo

Yellow and aged canvass with delicate dark wavy fickle hair flowing down, a skilfully painted geisha girl face is at the top of the painting, her face closely framed by her hair. There is no boundary between her and the yellow canvass, as if by magic she is both woman and the story and the painting. From some strands of her hair a wavy path of autumn colours flows to the bottom of the image; like autumn leaves. Her mouth is as tight as pain endures. Her eye, hold the tension wisdom and frustration.

Two trees face each other on a hill in beige kind of light. The hill is in cross section and you can see roots which make patterns & shapes some of which are pink, some shapes are like hearts. Above ground in the soft light, leaning against the trees, a man and woman sit facing each other talking. The woman is on the right. Her palm is open holding the weight of the air & the truth.

A monkey on a platform supported by two pillars with windows. He eats a banana and a plant’s leaves rest on his shoulder. Surrounding the pillars are coloured plants a rabbit and a bird. There is green grass and two ponds below, one pond with white ducks. The grass is surrounded by brown coloured stones..

For #Ekphrasticchallenge2025 day 21 #haiku

@thewombwellrainbow.bsky.social

JZ21
Geisha girl in thought
Rouge lips raven hair flowing
Her story so hard

SEB21
Vraiment tête à tête
Such delicate discussion
Witness to the sky

SK21
Buddha and Monkey
Dinner before discussion
Patience abounding