the art of poetry

O marvelous tapestry

Of the earth’s wonders, The anthill!

Excavated mound of simple dirt, Classically modern, belies

The labyrinthine fortress beneath, Patterned and swirled with chambers and galleries

Fit for a cloistered Queen, Impossibly regal, mother of millions, Whose servants, workers, warriors and drones, Magically coded by age, status and function, Navigate along time-worn passages with unerring pheromonal precision, All in service to Queen and Colony. May we tread their earth with care.

This painting, entitled All of Us, is by Lou Storey, a New Jersey-based visual artist and psychotherapist currently living with his husband in Savannah, Georgia. Over his thirty-year career, his work has been presented and sold in numerous exhibitions nationally, featuring the visual vocabulary exhibited in All of Us—concepts of directional motion, bright colors , and elaborate patterns—and he is featured in Marcia Butler’s YouTube documentary, “The Creative Imperative”

All of Us was selected by Rattle Magazine as the subject for its “Ekphrastic Challenge,” to which I responded with my poem, Anthill.

David Stoller has had a career spanning law, private equity, and entrepreneurial leadership. He was a partner and co-head of Milbank Tweed and led various companies in law, insurance, live entertainment, and the visual arts. David is an active art collector and founder of River Arts Press, which published a collection of his poetry, Finding My Feet