THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY

THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY
April 12, 2016

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Wet Weather or Aqua Haze? 2014 Poetry Project

Writerly Friends, yesterday, my friend Patricia VanAmburg left this comment on the blog: "If tomorrow is still wet weather, I have this [poem, below]." 

When I saw that today's Pantone ® Poetry colors were Wet Weather and Aqua Haze, I -- like most of us on the East Coast -- was hoping to see a little Aqua Haze in the sky. After all, the past week had been warm enough to melt most of Maryland's snow.


Would Day 9 be Wet Weather

Pantone ®  16-5101


or Aqua Haze?

Pantone ®  15-5209
Alas, Patricia correctly predicted more wet weather. Here in the Baltimore 'burbs we had a fresh inch of snow this afternoon, which looks lovely and slippery this evening. The only Aqua Haze I've seen outside is my puffy blue winter jacket.

Here is Patricia's Wet Weather poem:

Wet weather lashes
mascara into cheeky
silt and salt puddles.


by Patricia VanAmburg, posted with permission

I don't know if Diane Mayr (Random Noodling) also knew we'd be getting snow today, but her Wet Weather poem suggests feathery snowflakes falling from the sky.




Since I was stuck inside today, I amused myself by looking at photographs of the tattoo I will never get. Here is a rough draft of a poem featuring Aqua Haze -- and a few other Pantone® Project colors past, present, and future.

Notes for a Tattoo
by Laura Shovan

Two koi might circle my ankle
in an Aqua Haze, one
Amberglow orange,
the other lunar white,
swimming opposite currents
of the same tendon river.

Or an asteroid belt
might ring my ring finger,
something discrete --
its Meteorites hidden, sparkling
beneath my wedding band.

A phrase in script,
deep Oxblood Red:
Mischief Managed,
or "Off with her head!"
Who would be curiouser
and curiouser enough
to read the words
scrolling round my wrist?

Or cheeky enough to find
the lightning bolt I've longed
to strike on the skin
of my left hip. Imagine
the Wet Weather -- raindrops
drizzling down my leg
until they reach that pool
of Aqua Haze, two koi
swimming lazy currents
up and down my ankle.

NOT my tattoo.
See waktattoos.com


I've been intrigued with the idea of a poem about the tattoo one does NOT have ever since I heard Mark Doty read his poem on the subject, "My Tattoo." Read the poem here.

We are all ready for some sunshine, and I won't let you down. The colors for Day 10 of the Pantone Poetry Project are:


Day 10: Amberglow

Pantone ®  16-1350

PANTONE 15-1050 Golden Glow
Day 10 Golden Glow

Pantone ®  15-1050

If you'd like to learn more about this project, or want to try writing with us, read my introduction to the 2014 Pantone Poetry Project. I hope to see you, and some golden skies, tomorrow.

7 comments:

Linda B said...

I feel behind; I am behind! I thought "peach" was today's-argh! But, love all these poems & it isn't likely for us to have wet weather, unless it's snow, so I'll move on. Love that wet weather/mascara dripping and Diane, your 'great cockalorum in the sky' & on the rooster image-very fun. Laura, it's (to me of course) a perfect dream poem. I like all the musings, but the koi up & down the leg is quite sexy! Thanks to all; you are inspiring!

Diane Mayr said...

Laura, I'd love to see your tats if you ever get them! Words scrolling around a wrist would be awesome. It's not a decision to be made lightly. It took me more than a year to decide. I was 61 when I finally had it done, so you have plenty of time to decide on your design. I'd rethink all the colors, though, it might get pretty costly! (Although it makes great fodder for a poem!)

Patricia said...

Nice tattoo , Laura, even if it isn't yours. I like the idea of fish swimming down a tendon. I love chickens, Diane, and enjoyed having yours in my morning. When I tried to type cockalorum into my kindle earlier, it was auto corrected to kokolatum--a yodeling rooster? From crow to glow--I'll be back later.

Patricia said...

I think I started out channeling Robert Frost but ended up channeling Robert Louis Stevenson? Maudlin.

Scorched

Glowing embers amber gold
Colors we can never hold
In the hollows of our hands
Or the burnt and barren lands.

Heidi Mordhorst said...

This. is. so. fun. Love Patricia's, love Diane's, love yours!
**************

Amber says to Golden,
"I think your eyeliner is a little thick."

Golden says to Amber,
"Better too thick than none, sister."

Amber says to Golden,
"Where should we glow tonight?"

Golden says to Amber,
"Let's glow to Club Cauldron.
It's always hot there."

Mary Lee said...

I didn't write for all of the colors, but I appreciated having the week's colors in advance as possible prompts. This project bumped me out of a poem-writing slump! THANK YOU!

Hope is the Color Green

Hope is the color green.
It comes to us washed by wet weather, or by tears.
It comforts the valley first,
then climbs the mountain with steady assurance,
accompanied by bursts
of wildflower happiness in its midst,
while above the haze and mist
a benevolent aqua sky persists.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2014

Pantone® colors: wet weather, aqua haze

Author Amok said...

You're welcome, Mary Lee. After such a long winter, green does feel like a hopeful color. I love how your green travels up the mountain.