Something Blue
Soon after completing my first book of poetry, Muses like Moonlight, I wrote the following poem. At the time, my intution told me that it marked the start of a new period in my writing.
I began my spoken word reading yesterday at Floyd Fest – on the “Soap Box” under the “Poetree” – with the following poem. After that, I proceeded to read a collection – 5 poems and one short prose piece – in which the word “blue” appeared somewhere in the text of each. I didn’t go as far as to paint myself blue – something my Celtic ancestors did before going into battle – but the girls (a Floyd Fest couple)in the photo did.
I want to steal the word “blue”
into every poem I write
the way a Hopi weaves a signature
with a bead outside the pattern
I want to leave a kernel of its clarity
in every verse I compose
study its contradictions
and versatility
One day blue is sad
the next, the sky is filled with it
winners strive for it
babies babble it
purple is another
version of it
Picasso had a blue period
casting all his subjects in its mood
singers sing the blues
not to wallow in melodrama
but because they want
to tell the truth
Mostly blue is cool
like Cher’s son’s middle name
my favorite Joni Mitchell album
or the second full moon
in a romantic summer month
I want to shock the world with indigo
invent new blue slang
drop its name in conversation
wear all shades of it
Delicate or bold
dignified or casual
the beat is just right
it’s easy to rhyme
Blue is an attitude
July 31st, 2005 10:08 am
Hello, michelle sent me. I’ve learned something new today, thank you 🙂
July 31st, 2005 10:09 am
Oh, Colleen, I love that-not only the poem, but the sentiment itself. It goes well with my new blog look, too!
July 31st, 2005 11:16 am
Hello, Colleen. Michele sent me.
Lovely about blue. I feel much the same way 🙂
July 31st, 2005 4:50 pm
Wonderful! I especially loved the line, “not to wallow in melodrama/but because they want/to tell the truth.”
July 31st, 2005 8:21 pm
Good for you to getting your voice heard so literally!
July 31st, 2005 8:43 pm
Nice poem. Michelle sent me.
August 1st, 2005 2:07 am
Great post (as always). And my favorite car was blue.
August 1st, 2005 9:31 am
And when I was a girl people thought my sister Kathy and I were twins. We were close in size and my mother used to buy us the same clothes…mine in blue and hers in red, in order to tell them (and us) apart.
May 12th, 2011 8:13 am
[…] 10. I want to shock the world with indigo / invent new blue slang / drop its name in conversation / wear all shades of it / Delicate or bold / dignified or casual / the beat is just right / it’s easy to rhyme / Blue is an attitude. ~ Read the entire poem HERE. […]
December 1st, 2011 11:13 am
[…] 6. Picasso had a blue period / casting all his subjects in its mood / singers sing the blues / not to wallow in melodrama / but because they want / to tell the truth … Read the rest of the poem HERE. […]