I wrote this poem: Childhood Colours
I haven’t posted any poetry for a while - since the middle of National Poetry Writing Month in April, in fact - probably because I haven’t actually written any since my muse went to hide under the bed around about April 17th.
Here’s one from early on in April though. I don’t remember what inspired it exactly - possibly the children’s rainbow song which goes ‘Red and yellow and pink and green…’Â But for whatever reason, I also decided to try and set myself a rule to follow for each stanza. Can you spot it?
Childhood Colours
Pink: my favourite party dress all faded
and grown too short; strawberry ice cream;
the plastic skin of dolls; bubblegum bubbles.
Red: the velvet-covered seats of the
concert hall where I sang on oblivious
as the scenery tumbled all around me.
Orange: too-sweet squash after Sunday school;
sweets after school in a packet decorated
with dinosaurs; space-hoppers; satsumas at Christmas.
Yellow: my own private sandbar at the
bottom of the bathtub after a day
playing in golden sands and shimmering sea.
Green: duckweed; pondweed; seaweed; vivid grass stains
on my shorts on sports day; the
silvery leaves of my grandad’s willow tree.
Blue: sky; sea; turquoise goop painted
on our little boat’s hull; the knitted
teddy bear I swapped with my brother.
Purple: the peeling paint in my primary
school playground on the shed doors and
the metal pole we tried to climb.
Brown: my floppy dog of flowered corduroy;
horse chestnuts in autumn; chocolate Easter eggs;
new-turned damp earth in Dad’s allotment.
White: bread cut by my grandmother for
my sandwiches and the laundry drying outside
which I sat beneath when eating them.
Black: the rubber ring we’d float with;
wet oily tarmac on diesel-drizzle days;
words on the pages of new books.
© 2008 C Sharp
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif){kind=small}
on May 24th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Ciao Catherine!
Grazie della visita e del commento.
E’ adorabile il tuo modo di scrivere l’italiano.
Deve essere bellissimo il tuo mondo di colori, sereno, positivo, speranzoso..
Abbracci dalla solare italia,
hanna’s last post: Ti presento un amico americano
on May 24th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
There are some really wonderful images. Using the colors makes the memories come alive. I didn’t spot the rule, but I’m a bit obtuse about those kinds of things.
Francis Scudellari’s last post: A votive extinguished
on May 25th, 2008 at 2:02 am
Hi Catherine,
Wow! That was a wonderful colorful poem and no doubt you transformed the inspiration from a rainbow song to a meaningful piece of poetry. I really liked the stanza on orange. Thanks for sharing.
meghnak’s last post: In A Bid To Help Our Humanity …..
on May 25th, 2008 at 2:32 am
hi!
great poem!
actually made me think about my own childhood!
Roy
The Struggling Blogger
Roy’s last post: Reaping my first fruit
on May 25th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Yellow is my favorite but it’s all really very good.
I think the rule is that you used a different colour in each stanza. Nothing gets past me… (joking, I’m joking).
Is it anything to do with how very well it is all punctuated?
Ken Armstrong’s last post: Indiana Jones and the Audience Preconceptions
on May 25th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Thanks for all the comments. I think my favourite stanzas were pink and black (although obviously they were all meaningful to me).
As for the rule I set myself… Well, Ken, you were right about it being a different colour in each stanza, so well done. Have a silver star.
But the real rule had nothing to do with punctuation. It was simply that there were 7 words in each line (hypenated ones counting as separate words). I did originally think to do each colour as a haiku but that restricted me a bit too much, so I went for a word-limit (not a syllable limit) instead.
on May 25th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Yup (nods sagely) I knew that…
Ken Armstrong’s last post: Indiana Jones and the Audience Preconceptions
on May 25th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
great poem..although it was a long time ago it brought back memories of youth
robert bourne’s last post: Outside Looking In
on May 26th, 2008 at 1:25 am
Beautiful. I can’t write poetry, so it really sweeps me off my feet when I read poems like this.
Miss Write’s last post: Don’t Write Like a Pro
on May 26th, 2008 at 5:50 am
What a beautiful poem. I especially liked ‘pink’, and the ‘plastic doll skin’. Pink actually reminds me of Barbies, a big part of my fond childhood memories!
Vivienne’s last post: Ten Fast Food Trivia Facts No One Can Live Without
on May 27th, 2008 at 5:25 am
Super poem! Love it
Robin @ Heart of Wisdom’s last post: NURTURING THE WRITE RELATIONSHIP- Now Shipping
on May 27th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Great poem, well done!
I love reading poetry, it always comes straight from the heart!
Sarah
Sarah’s last post: Copywriting - Tips to Improve Your Website’s Content
on May 29th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I enjoyed reading this very much indeed, but the verse I liked best - and by a long, long way - was the last. Excellent.
Dave King’s last post: Bits and Pieces
on June 4th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I loved this poem. Strange, beautiful idea. Very evocative. My favourite verse is difficult to choose, but I’ll go ahead and choose one anyway:
“Orange: too-sweet squash after Sunday school;
sweets after school in a packet decorated
with dinosaurs; space-hoppers; satsumas at Christmas.”
Fiendish’s last post: Not to Get Ahead of Myself…