Ekphrastic poetry by Alex Missall

"Viewfinder" and "While Stepping into the Same Creek Twice"

Viewfinder 

Reflected 
back

into
the viewfinder

of my Canon
Powershot,

whose lens cover
I take off, now,

is a tiny,
circular 

mirror—
then the cracked,

mud-streaked
image of hood,

hibernation,
and face 

kept within
this displaced,

silver-lined
object

I’ve discovered,
which someone

else has left
between

the branch
and trunk 

of a tree caught 
in meadowland

off paths close,
just behind home. 

While Stepping into the Same Creek Twice

Although
I’m not

Caesar
crossing

the Rubicon,
with camera

angled
in hand

I step
into the same, 

cold creek
twice.  

Alex Missall studied creative writing at the University of Cincinnati. His poetry collections “A Harvest of Days” and “Morning Grift” are forthcoming from Finishing Line Press (2026). He resides in Ohio, where he enjoys the trails with his Husky, Betts.