Ange, aka AJ, and poetisatinta, is the crowned Poet of the the Week for the W3 Poetry Prompt #173.
We’re invited to write an ekphrastic poem—a piece inspired by a work of art. Ange has selected two masterpieces to spark our creativity: Blue Nude II by Henri Matisse (1952) and Abstraction Blue by Georgia O’Keeffe (1927).
The challenge is to choose one of these two artworks for inspiration and write a poem of no more than 15 lines. As we craft our pieces, we are required to incorporate the word “blue.” (Oops! 😬 I meant to include the word blue—but it turned into cerulean. Rules are made to be broken, are they not‽ )
I chose the Georgia O’Keeffe painting as my inspiration.
Last week’s prompt left me lingering in a neologistic mood, so I coined the word vertizontal. In O’Keeffe’s painting, there’s a vertical spine: a fold, path, a boat’s wake, or perhaps the edge of something. I decided it was the central “vertical sinewed flowerings flow.” And now you know. 😁
Abstraction Cerulean
by Lesley Scoble
vertical sinewed flowerings flow
vertizontally,
in lilac clouds
of softly breathing breaths—
rising plumes
of dawn filled skies
a delicate tulip blooms—
unfurling swirls of pastel shades,
ascending
from unknown depths—
a birth unseen,
through sensual shafts of sunlit blades
and earth—bathing in cerulean dew,
in pristine
innocent virtue.
—Lesley Scoble, August, 2025
Music Audio – Abstraction Cerulean
I hope you enjoy this musical interpretation inspired by Georgia O’Keefe’s painting Abstraction Blue. 🎶
THANK YOU
As always, my deep gratitude to David, The Skeptics Kaddish, for his inspiration and encouragement.
My thanks to Ange, for her beautiful blue prompt.
My thanks also to Violet Lentz (last week’s prompt) for introducing me to neologism.
Above all, my heartfelt thanks to you, the reader, for reading and listening to my poem.
To find out more about David’s W3 poetry prompts, follow the link below.
LesleyScoble.com 
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