not quite ekphrasis on Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)” at The Art Institute of Chicago
by MIKEE PARANGALAN
Sarah tells me exactly how impossible it is to do this;
carve a million frothy curves into the top of a wave’s
crest
and Katsushika Hokusai did this countless times,
which we know
because this rendition is one of three drafts
all later impressions, all edited renditions
The angry tendrils look not unlike
the fangs of a tiger, hungry
for the boats
the boats at battle with
relentless water
“Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of
a flood;
never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
God promised us in Genesis
Christians claim the second Sodom
is coming into focus but I’ve read Parable of the Sower
Remember when there were only landlines and
Blackberrys?
They didn’t put the boats in the Great Wave emoji
Well, and it’s really about
Mt. Fuji
The mountain pacifistic
in the background
under the wave, but
taller
because we know about perspective
Mikee Parangalan is a Midwest apologist and carpe diem evangelist, writing and creating in Chicago, Illinois. Her work is forthcoming in hex literary magazine and her project proof of what? is available on Bottlecap Press. You can find her online @mkprngln and most anywhere else if you look hard enough.