[Rick Mullin]

Alex,

Thanks for the detailed response. All I can tell you is that I want jarring effects. I'm not sure that is antithetical to a cohesive atmosphere.

It's important to me that Turner, his day and age, the pigments he had available to him, etc, are of no concern to me. This is an ekphrastic poem. Not to be tamed by something like "the Romantic period's rich vocabulary of death and apocalypse," all of which is outside the frame, so to speak. Note also that my Romantic period ended in the 1980s.

An ekphrastic poem is its own thing, a visceral response. It must connect in an unstudied manner, pulling in what shows up. Working in form is a godsend in this regard.

I'm glad you're picking up on something here. I'm still hoping there are readers that will go with it.

Again, I appreciate deep dive.

Rick