I had a lot of fun composing that rendition of Tom.
When I first wrote him about it and sent it to him unfinished; we collaborated on a few ideas of how to change it to make it better.
I put the numbers around him to reflect his numbered poetry.
Then I got his permission to post it.
If have offended anyone it was not my intention.
Since I have never seen Tom, nor heard his voice,
with every poem of his I would read an image of him would pop into my head.
At first when I began reading his poetry, I envisioned him as a cold puppy,
frozen to the sidewalk just short of an empty cardboard box.
Next I would see him as a samurai warrior fighting off pigmies
with his elbows while eating bedpans.
Then he would mention companions along the way
and I would have him holding a harp with mirrored reflections
of his past as they faded in and out.
All of which were too ridiculously difficult for me as an amateur
to even begin to paint.
So I just let him balance the weight of all of it on his shoulders
and swirled around him his numbered poems.
Hope all of this helps. I’ll post my Ekphrasis attempt later.