Have a Jazzy Poetry Friday, Sugar

Writerly Friends, not only is it Poetry Friday, but it is also Day (6 and) 7 of Author Amok's 2014 Poetry Project.

Hooray! Renee is hosting today!
Stop by No Water River for a list
of this week's Poetry Friday posts.

Last year, I spent February writing in response to vintage postcards. This year, my poetry prompt is paint colors. All this week, fellow poets have joined me, writing in response to the Pantone®  color(s) of the day.

Visit this post for a full description of the project, including sample writing prompts and instructions on how to share your colorful responses.

Officially, today's color is Jazzy. This is a color with BIG personality, well-suited for my brother's birthday celebration.

But I missed a day in there somewhere, so you might also write in response to the Day 6 colors, Kombu Green and Sugar Coral.

Day 6: Kombu Green
Pantone ®  19-0417

Day 6: Sugar Coral
Pantone ®  16-1640

I was stuck on these two colors at first. My notes are like this:

Christmas Cactus
Sugar sculpture of fish and coral crashing
Papaya?
MOSS
Pink Ladies, Cape May

And then, a very Sugar Coral memory bubbled up from a long ago trip to Hawaii. I was really surprised where this poem took me.

Guavas

by Laura Shovan

We came upon them in the wild.

I was all like, “Eat of the fruit.”

And he knew me, this new husband,

and would not eat. We sat on rocks

near a stream and I bit into the fruit,

its innards sugar coral, its seeds

in jellied pouches, like reptile eggs.

“See?” I said. “It’s good. It’s fine.”

But still he would not eat.

The trees were dark as seaweed,

kombu green. We were oceans

away from home, married two days,

maybe three. I pulled off my clothes

and slipped into the water,

which had come down

from the tip of a volcano.

I was all like, “It’s fine.

A little cold. Come in.”

I may have splashed him, playfully.

He sat on the rocks, my husband,

thinking he could still refuse,

thinking he could change the story.

Poet Patricia VanAmburg's amorous couple was inspired by the same color (Sugar Coral), but has a few less issues than the newlyweds in my poem.

Sweet Tarts

by Patricia VanAmburg

Pinky called Coral Sugar

Because she was his dish

Coral called Pinky Sugar when

Ever he granted her wish

Pinky and Coral spooning

Under a sugary moon

Their rendezvous ballooning

Into the late afternoon

Tabatha Yeatts (The Opposite of Indifference) has this meditation on one of today's colors as a symbol of writer's block.

Writer's block is kombu green,
or maybe white, or in between,
with a dash of crumple
wadded up in a bin,
and just enough room
for your brain to get in.

by Tabatha Yeatts, posted with permission.

Ready to be inspired by color? Leave your poem in the comments. I will update this post throughout the day.

Reluctant to dive in? Read some of this week's colorful poems:

Day 1: Apricot Illusion

Day 2: Peyote, Dark Earth, Cosmic Sky

Day 3: Purple Reign, Monument

Day 4: Hushed Violet, Demitasse

Day 5: Aloe, Bronze Mist, Zinc (Featuring Margaret Simon's poem "Annunciation" from her beautiful book Illuminate.)

Later today, I will post the amazing Diane (Random Noodling) Mayr's poem using ALL of this week's colors. It's a little risque, so you may want to come back when the kiddos aren't around. (That way, no one will ask why you're laughing hysterically. And you won't have to explain about the tassels.)

Along with Diane's poem, I'll post a list of next week's colors. Put your Jazzy dancing shoes on, and I'll see you later.

Up next...

Day 8: Peach Pearl
Pantone ®  14-1419

Day 8: MeteoritePantone ®  19-4008