Spicing Up Your Poetry Friday: 2014 Poetry Project

Happy Valentine's Day, Writerly Friends! Welcome back to Author Amok's 2014 Poetry Project. All this month, I invite you to write in response to Pantone paint colors. You can read about the project at my introductory post.

One of our project regulars, Linda Baie, is hosting Poetry Friday at her blog Teacher Dance today. Tango on over there for some happy heart day treats and poems.

From Atlas Obscura

Before we dig into our chocolate hearts, let's give a little attention to the holiday's patron saint.

According to Catholic Online, "St. Valentine was martyred in the third century for the crime of marrying Christian couples and his refusal to pay homage to the Roman emperor as a living deity. Before his death ... St. Valentine cured a young woman of blindness. He wrote at least one letter to this fortunate woman which he signed with, 'your Valentine.' Nothing in the legend suggests that the relationship between the pair was romantic, but rather it was rooted deeply in Christian love. In honor of St. Valentine, we too are also called to brotherly and sisterly love."

That's an idea I can get behind.

You will notice that, on this icon, Valentine's robes are Paprika red. The carpet he is standing on might be called Burnt Russet. His beard and hair, 4975 C on the Choctone chart.

Day 13 Paprika
Pantone ®  17-1553

Day 13 Burnt Russet
Pantone ®  19-1530

Patricia VanAmburg's spicy little poem is fitting for the modern meaning of Valentine's Day.

Paprika

by Patricia VanAmburg

Wrapping a knit shawl
over her winter coat
the woman drives thirty 
miles through a blizzard
to meet her illicit lover
in a Hungarian restaurant.

Diane Mayr, who blogs at Random Noodling every Poetry Friday, shared this poem about the orange-red spice.

Pieprz  [pee-epp-zh]by Diane Mayr

Pieprz she called it.
It sounded exotic to my
third-generation ears.

I never asked what
it was, if I had, I would
have been told "paprika."

Instead, I knew it as red
fairy dust until the time
I lost my belief in fairies.

Since I gave us all the option of writing in response to one of the Choctone colors, I decided to take myself up on the challenge. How about a Valentine's Day chocolate ad as a found poem?

Those of you who are missing a loved one on Valentine's Day may want to skip this poem and its accompanying ad. They are in *terrible* taste -- my twisted sense of humor shining through.

Bad Romance

by Laura Shovan

If you had no idea

what to get her

for Valentine's Day

imagine how overwhelming

arranging her funeral

would be.

Since you can never choose

between chocolate heart

and chocolate diamonds,

how will you decide--

when the time comes--

on burial or cremation?

Let us add some compassion

to your burning passion.

It's a kind of flirtation,

planning the end,

your twin urns nestled

on the mantle

above a roaring fire.

It's a gift guaranteed

to make your sweetie's heart

melt faster than the most

expensive chocolate.

Featured at UK's Telegraph under the headline
"Stumped for a Gift? Try a Funeral"

Buffy Silverman's got a sense of humor as warped as my own. Let's just say the heart in her poem is more anatomical than Hallmark.

She writes that her Burnt Russet poem is "perhaps in bad taste for Valentine's Day, but my strange brain went back to the days of teaching intro bio."

Burnt Russet
by Buffy Silverman (Buffy's Blog)

The fetal pig's heart lay
exposed
still
formaldehyde
scenting the air,
burnt russet
spilling from its
arteries.

If you've got a hankering for all things red, or for chocolate, and want to share, leave your poem or written response to today's Pantone colors in the comments.

Later today, I'll post a wrap-up of all this week's Pantone Poems. Our Day 14 color is Oxblood Red. If you've got time for one last Week 2 poem, I'll include it in the post.

Day 14 Oxbood Red
Pantone ®  19-1524

There's still time to join the Pantone Poetry Project. Let's look a head to the colors for next week.

Saturday 2/15: Lemon Meringue, Margarita

Sunday 2/16: Jolly Green, Cabaret

Monday 2/17: Dubarry

Tuesday 2/18: Papaya Punch

Wednesday 2/19: Orange Pepper, Soothing Sea

Thursday 2/20: Silver Bullet, Rhapsody

Friday 2/21: Poseidon, Tornado, Aqua Splash

Can't wait? Here's a recipe from
allrecipes.com