Ekphrasis 6: Emma Kidd + Nathan Horowitz
by Emma Kidd
*
the conference
promotional material
the logo of the company
is a cloud
whose constituent particles
are oceans.
day one
in the afternoon
i look out the window
at the ocean
and see dozens of killer whales.
they begin transforming
leaving the water:
giraffes, bison, elephants, wolves,
fur still black/white.
a woman appears in the room with us,
dressed in black and white;
her skin matches theirs.
day two
i have no memory
of day two.
day three
three of us participants
are standing in the surf
turning into orcas.
our bodies grow, the shape changes,
our heads, even our teeth change,
our hands fan out
and the flesh grows together,
our tails grow out
and split into flukes.
the orcas are out there in the water
inviting us in,
egging us on.
now they’re laughing like mad,
because no matter what our skill
in growing fins and tails,
we’re still standing there on our legs.
closing ceremony
were plankton really
singing gregorian chants?
i’ll be back
next year.
qarrtsiluni 
A perfect description of the many three-day conferences I’ve been to, at least what I remember of them. Absolutely delightful.
Cheers, Peter. The conference I attended in real life came a close second in surreality to the one I imagined here. It was in a gigantic megahotel in Nashville and when I came out of my room on the first morning I noticed that they had a rainforest growing outside the door, complete with a waterfall and fake rocks. I was simultaneously attracted (to the plants) and repelled (by the artificiality of it). The other odd thing about the place was that many of the employees had three v-shaped scars on their foreheads, like upside-down chevrons, and turned out to be Dinkas, refugees of the war in the Sudan. I can barely remember the conference itself, but the artificial rainforest and the Dinkas stay with me.
It all made me want to run far away–perhaps to swim with orcas like the ones in Emma’s painting.
Nathan, I enjoyed this, too. I must have been to similar conferences. I laughed out loud at “day two.” I love Emma’s piece, too.
I love your poem, it is off the wall different from what I would expect someone to write, it is fabulous!
If you enjoy my poem, it’s your karma coming back to you for creating such fantastic, surprising & delightful visual art… :^)