Ekphrasis offers an alternative to the claustrophobic lyric “I” at a time when confessional modes are threadbare.
Ekphrasis, as one mode available to poets, offers the option of a formalism that is anti-confessional and yet grounded in tactility and sensory immediacy. An ekphrastic poem may speak of selfhood and identity and embodiment, but not with a lyric subjectivity that presumes a stable interiority, because it is, by definition, a projection.
se also: St. Rage’s Vault by B.K. Fischer reviewed by Ann E. Michael in Poets’ Quarterly
sub rosa 
Wow–just for your information, I reviewed one of her books. Here: http://www.poetsquarterly.com/2013/07/st-rages-vault-by-bk-fischer.html
HA! What a coincidence! Thank you!