Is the Sun Yellow or Did I Just Kill a Rose ~ #NaPoWriMo2021 ~ Day 18


Madness files my nails

to repetition…I look for

answers to form from

dried ink on my fingertips,

curse their silence, and

tap them together in

hollow applause hoping

to encourage flesh

to see what I can’t hear.

 

Minutes turn into hours

as I doggedly repeat

what doesn’t work,

and blame the clock

for what my mind can’t speak.

 

Have you ever tried to write

the color of the sun as it burns

a rose from red to brown?

It can’t be just yellow or orange

because the bloodletting of petals

is too sinister to be addressed

from a primary box of crayons.

 

Blind…all seeing…somewhere in between?

Visions and words alphabet my eyelids

yet nothing stays long enough for my pen

to collect a sentence of worth.

 

A poet…pfft! Perhaps I am…Maybe not.

There is a certain insanity about staring

at white paper hoping it will be blighted by ink.

 

 

Susie Clevenger 2021

 The Sunday Muse #156

 

Comments

Zander said…
The bloodletting of colors!! Very nice!
Carrie Van Horn said…
In the creative struggle, we are all mad us poets. I love how you have painted a picture in poetry in the silences and the blank page! This whole poem is magnificent Susie!!
JadeLi said…
I love your final line and these:
"the bloodletting of petals
is too sinister to be addressed
from a primary box of crayons."

My takeaway from this is that it is complicated and it is painful. I love your comparing flower petals to poetry <3
qbit said…
"Have you ever tried to write / the color of the sun as it burns / a rose from red to brown?" - terrific!!
Gillena Cox said…
Bravo, splendid write. Yes sometines its that hard. Thanks when the tired muse is dropping asleep.

Happy Sunday. Thank you for droppibg by my blog today

Much💛love
Other Mary said…
This is brilliant, Susie. I love the way you started out with hands. And the whole struggle to write, to create, "A poet...pfft!" That's great!
Fireblossom said…
Of course you are a poet! And I love the art you made out of the picture.
indybev said…
The prayerful hands often don't seem to encourage epiphany. Words fall serendipity in the night. Poetry pft becomes hallelujah.....hopefully!
Helen said…
An epic write, Susie ... epic.
That ending is a knockout, Susie!
Jim said…
Like chasing a wild pig. They are smarter than they look.
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p.s. The ajhoven73 is an old email that haunts me. I cannot read, hence answer those messages. In fact, I didn't like gmail so I never used it from the start. But google glommed on to it.
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