Dark Earth, Cosmic Sky: 2014 Poetry Project

Writerly Friends, it's DAY 2 of Author Amok's 2014 Poetry Project. Throughout February, I invite you to write (or draw) in response to Pantone® paint colors.

If you'd like to participate in the project, read the full the instructions at this post. I'll share your flash fiction, poetry, snippets, couplets, doodles, sketches -- whatever floats your boat -- via email, comment or link to your blog.

Today's colors are:

Peyote
Pantone® 14-1106

Dark Earth
Pantone® 19-1020

Cosmic Sky
Pantone® 15-3909

We also had the option of using SuperBowl team colors to juice up our creativity.

I thought for sure "Cosmic Sky" was going to inspire some star-gazing creative work, but "Dark Earth" wins the day, two responses to one!

Here is Linda Baie's poem in response to that rich brown:

Dark Earth


It’s a comfort to think about the seeds
pushed into dark earth, expectations known.
They will become what’s theirs alone.

Yet, I wonder while I plant,
like humans given the gift of choice,
would violets prefer a rose’s voice?


Linda Baie ©All Rights Reserved

Linda blogs at Teacher Dance. I love how she worked February's traditional color, violet (birthstone: Amethyst, flower: Violet or Primrose) into the poem. Thanks for sharing the poem, Linda.

I started working on a "Cosmic Sky" sketch. I have a habit of dragging my poor family outdoors at 2 am for meteor showers, with lukewarm results. The comets always seem to streak just beyond where we are looking. But I settled on something more grounded -- earthworms and chocolate.

Dark Earth

by Laura Shovan

There are tunnels under our feet.

The earth’s been crumbled,

riffled through by earthworm muscle.

In eighth grade Bio, it was a delicate thing

tunneling through muscle to find

an earthworm’s tiny brain: the prize

a piece of chocolate from our teacher,

kiss of dark earth, a seed crumbled,

calibrated to melt on the human tongue.

Diane Mayr of the blog Random Noodling had a late plea for the beauty of "Cosmic Sky." She said...

"Cosmic Sky is too pretty a color to let go by, so here's my take on it."

Q: And the Chances Are? 

This sky, some are quick to say,
is a gorgeous shade of blue,
others will insist it's violet.

We each prefer our different hues.

Let's establish a name
for the color of the firmament,
and while we're at it, we'll decree

peace for humanity, too.

A: Slim and None.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Margaret Simon of the blog Reflections on the Teche has worked three of this week's colors into her poem, Bronze Mist, Cosmic Sky, and Sugar Coral.

The bronze mist lingers over the morning bayou.
A great blue heron, 
hidden in the fog, wades 
boastful in his grey cloak.
He takes flight--winged warrior--
rising into a cosmic sky.
The sun breaks 
the horizon into petals
of sugar coral, that perfect pink
silk tulip drops into an earthen vase
Calling for spring.

--Margaret Simon

"The Homecoming." Photograph by Kevin Fleming at Wild Delmarva.

And one of my critique partners, Patricia VanAmburg, who teaches at Howard Community College, chose "Peyote."

She writes: "Though I actually liked the color, I came up with a dark little haiku."

Peyote hated
her name and skin half bred
color of mushrooms

by Patricia VanAmburg

All poems shared with the permission of the authors.

Want to play along? You still have time. If you'd like to  share a response to "Peyote," "Dark Earth," or "Cosmic Sky," (or your SuperBowl team colors) leave it in the comments. I'll update the post later today.

Tomorrow, we have two color choices for DAY 3 of the Pantone® Poetry Project. Baltimore Ravens fans, I know you'll love this one:

Purple Reign
Pantone® 19-3620

Monument
Pantone® 17-4405

Suggested prompts are at this post. Let's add one to the list. "Dark Earth" made me think of chocolate. What food does the color remind you of?

The rest of the colors for this week are:

Tuesday -- Hushed Violet, Demitasse

Wednesday -- Zinc, Bronze Mist, Aloe

Thursday -- Kombu Green, Sugar Coral

Friday -- Jazzy and list of next week's colors

Fellow chocolate lovers, if I've awakened your sweet tooth, check out Arnold Adoff's book Chocolate Dreams for more delicious poetry. You can also read an interview with Adoff at Tricia's blog, The Miss Rumphius Effect.