Ekphrastic poetry, by Sarah Wyman

Based on 'Watermelon Seller', Jawad Saleem (1953)

Layla (a haibun poem)

Based on Watermelon Seller, Jawad Saleem (1953)

She didn’t want anyone to find out about the separate bedrooms, their marriage split open like a melon. Who would understand the seeds of their long-standing passion – thick skinned nubs protecting their moisture with a slick film, a watery gauze? They each sleep spread eagled, let the evening breeze ruffle their nightwear, compare their sight lines to the stars, next morning. Red flesh of their remembered love making bursts any rind of time.

Leave me to night air
Alone in cool peppered sheets
Surprise me at dawn.

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About the Poet:

Sarah Wyman lives in the Hudson Valley where she writes and teaches about literature and the visual art. She co-facilitates the Sustainability Faculty Learning Community at SUNY New Paltz and teaches poetry workshops at Shawangunk Prison. Her poetry has appeared in aaduna, Mudfish, Ekphrasis, San Pedro River Review, Potomac Review, Lightwood, Heron Clan XI, A Slant of Light: Contemporary Women Poets of the Hudson Valley, and other venues. Two books as well: Sighted Stones (FLP 2018) and Fried Goldfinch (Codhill 2021).