The most enjoyable part of reading literature is being able to visualize and depict the story being told. When discovering this weeks theme I was very excited to start my assignment. I choose to do my assignment on ” War Photograph” by Kate Daniels. As a whole this poem is the perfect example of ekphrasis. This was an easy pick for me, being that I am very interested and have done a large amount of research on the topic.

“She is running from the smoke and the soldiers, from the bodies of her mother and little sister thrown down into a ditch, from the blown-up bamboo hut from the melted pots and pans. And she is also running from the gods who have changed the sky to fire and puddled the earth with skin and blood”

I choose this excerpt from Daniel’s poem because of the effect it had on my imagination. I wanted to read this poem over and over to bring out the visualization of Daniel’s thoughts. This poem had dual effect on my mind, not only on my imagination but also on my emotions. In this poem Daniel’s is describing what she is seeing in the photograph. Daniel’s poem is based on a picture taken during the Vietnam war. Not only does Daniel’s describe what she sees but also the meaning behind it. The poem starts off with a child running naked from the negative effects of war. Daniel’s paints a vivid description of what she could imagine is going on in this child’s life as well as why the child looks so sad. My favorite example of ekphrasis is in the first stanza “A naked child is running along the path toward us, her arms stretched out, her mouth open, the world turned to trash behind her” Because it describes the exact image of the photograph in short deatail. When trying to critque visiual arts through literature, it is crucial to get a basis of what the author is trying to discribe. In the second stanza of the poem Daniel’s is describing the meaning of what she sees in the photograph. From Daniel’s poem we assume the child has lost not only his family but his home. Daniel’s say’s the running child is running from the Gods, which I can assume to be the government or the political forces behind it.

http://m.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/war-photograph