Mondrian Components Poem by Sheena Blackhall

I am a blue rectangle
Think sky, in a cramped box
Think no frills convict overalls
Think bluebird road kill

My neighbours, the Whites,
Are exciting as lavatory tiles
As an undertaker's napkins
As steamrollered ghosts

We all play second to General Red
Who hog most of the picture
Who elbows us out of the frame
He is the colour of Mars
Of blood and thunder
Of tubercular spit

I am a blue rectangle
I have no desire to be
A squirt of octopus ink
A pool by Hockney
A toad's drool

I would make
An excellent Inuit's sideboard
A smurf's nail file
A ruler for a British admiral