But where this poet’s sensitivity, control and finesse are in full effect is in the ekphrastic poems, which take their inspiration from paintings by Magritte, Picasso and Kahlo, among others. She succeeds in this form because both the poems and paintings are enriched by one another; yet, each also stands on its own. In “Columns of Tenderness,” Topal gives poetic life to the caryatids of Amadeo Modigliani,
filling the weight of space
with the plight of desire
In “…A Soul Called Ida,” she keeps to painterly description, but in the last three stanzas, beginning with “Think about how she came to this,” quickly and dramatically gives us access to the subject in a startling new way.
Topal’s is the voice of
the artist, the sensualist and the poet clearly capable of painting
the world in many ways—surreal, cubist and symbolist.