I’ve been pondering colors a lot, trying to find new ways to describe them in my prose. So I was excited by the prompt at Poetic Asides to free associate on color. And I figured it meshed well with the general word association prompt at Read Write Poem. Despite this convergence, I found this poem much harder to write than some of the other poems I’ve worked on, suggesting perhaps that I still have a lot of work to do on color. Or maybe I just had too much other work today.
In any case, I do find it odd that this is my third poem featuring yellow. I’m wondering what that’s about.
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Yellow Blues
Yellow –
Daffodils
I planted.
Dandelions
I didn’t.
On kitchen walls,
mellow
on pale skin,
sallow.
Golden
in egg yolks
promises fertility,
but in saffron-
robed monks,
bows to celibacy.
Amber sunshine
calls for fun.
but lights blink
caution,
or shout Help.
A child’s
been stolen.
Yellow ribbons
pinned to collars –
for soldiers in wars
spun by politicians,
slanted by reporters.
Ground up fine,
yellow shines
in pretty powders –
On the forehead,
a turmeric
blessing.
In bomb factories,
a poison.
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For more poems featuring yellow see Related Posts below:
I too am combining prompts from both Poetic Asides and Read Write Poem. Sometimes it’s a challenge, but nevertheless I find it fun and stimulating.
I really enjoyed this poem. The lyrical rhythms of how each word rolls onto the next. I especially love the 3rd and last stanzas; wonderful imagery.
As for the color of yellow, it could mean any of the following: “independence, self-esteem, ability to take action, and to move toward your goals.” I’m sharing this with you as I sometimes color mandalas, and they use different colors from the color wheel, so I thought you might like to see what it means.
Thanks for your comments and for the information on what yellow means. A lot of that resonates, so perhaps there is a reason I keep circling around yellow.
What great images– so full of sunshine. The end lines have such contrast: blessing and poison.
You get so much out of so few words! It’s really packed and spare all at the same time. Love it.
what a fun poem! my favorite: “Daffodils / I planted. / Dandelions / I didn’t.” LOL that’s my life