Colors Passing Through Us Poem by Marge Piercy
Colors Passing Through Us
Purple as tulips in May, mauve
into lush velvet, purple
as the stain blackberries leave
on the lips, on the hands,
the purple of ripe grapes
sunlit and warm as flesh.
Every day I will give you a color,
like a new flower in a bud vase
on your desk. Every day
I will paint you, as women
color each other with henna
on hands and on feet.
Red as henna, as cinnamon,
as coals after the fire is banked,
the cardinal in the feeder,
the roses tumbling on the arbor
their weight bending the wood
the red of the syrup I make from petals.
Orange as the perfumed fruit
hanging their globes on the glossy tree,
orange as pumpkins in the field,
orange as butterflyweed and the monarchs
who come to eat it, orange as my
cat running lithe through the high grass.
Yellow as a goat's wise and wicked eyes,
yellow as a hill of daffodils,
yellow as dandelions by the highway,
yellow as butter and egg yolks,
yellow as a school bus stopping you,
yellow as a slicker in a downpour.
Here is my bouquet, here is a sing
song of all the things you make
me think of, here is oblique
praise for the height and depth
of you and the width too.
Here is my box of new crayons at your feet.
Green as mint jelly, green
as a frog on a lily pad twanging,
the green of cos lettuce upright
about to bolt into opulent towers,
green as Grand Chartreuse in a clear
glass, green as wine bottles.
Blue as cornflowers, delphiniums,
bachelors' buttons. Blue as Roquefort,
blue as Saga. Blue as still water.
Blue as the eyes of a Siamese cat.
Blue as shadows on new snow, as a spring
azure sipping from a puddle on the blacktop.
Cobalt as the midnight sky
when day has gone without a trace
and we lie in each other's arms
eyes shut and fingers open
and all the colors of the world
pass through our bodies like strings of fire.
Loved reading this poem, so vivid the colors and the rhyme.. time permiting request your attention to a recent poem I had added on an accidentally discovered color of October - Purple. I had penned a few poems on the dominance of Purple in October Purple Blooms of October. thanks
This has to be one of the most vividly descriptive writes I've ever come across! So much gorgeous imagery! Had to add to my list of favorites just for that reason alone! Although a great poem it is!
I am diversified by you or yours color or your diversity I am the entity a full gratuity just for you O love; colorful love and you and you and you I am the new for every time.........................
We see colours in a narrow spectrum but we are blind to ultra violet or infra red I wonder what the poem would have been in these spectra However this was a brilliant piece of word play and imagery We were submersed in a rainbow of metaphor and a painting in soft water colour hues and bold acrylics A great piece thanks enjoyed.
Excellent poem created here 5 Stars full Congratulations with Modern Poem Of The Day. Great choice of Poem Hunter
The many colors of life have been beautifully painted on the canvas of this marvelous poem. A well crafted and executed write.
Fabulous poem of glittering colours........5 stars
Wonderful array of colours passing through us with such marvellous imagination.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/23/2024 12:46:39 PM # 1.0.0.1119
How can anyone resist the urge to sit down and write our version of colors passing through us