I make colour in the last remaining light
Green as holly
Red as night
Alice munches her sugar
Gasps on a tricky corner
Angel gladly slaps her back
Brings up the dust
Do you remember last year
She asks
No
I say
Not even stopping to pause
Days pass
Nights fall
No breaks in the loneliness
No gaps in the wall
Her fingers graze mine
She wants me
All of me
There is nothing left to share
I think
But hold her hand
Her fingers are blue
Cold
I climb the tufts of her sleeve
Explore the bones in her wrist
She is delicate
Like a bird of bones
Memory sticks
Too wet to ignite
Let’s go out she pleads
Not yet
When
When I am ready
She sinks through the floor
Holds her head
I don’t like this
What
Being awake
We need to be awake to open the door
She thinks
Her frown a ripple
All at a loss
Figuring things out
So we wake up
Open the door
And leave
Well that’s easy as pie
Silly
She swings her legs
Plays with the electric dial
As if I cannot see her
As if she is not real
I smile
Perhaps you can see in the twilight
We make colour in the last remaining light
Green as holly
Red as night.
:-) Happy New Year ... the old one is where it belongs ... the new one yet to come ... we made colour in the last remaining light ... it would be nice to open the door and leave. Bastet
ReplyDeleteYes that sounds very good - I forgot about the doors on New Years! A good thought...thank you kindly Georgia
DeleteAlice it getting quite demanding lately isn't she? Good for her!
ReplyDeleteRosey Pinkerton's blog
One of us had to develop a backbone at some point Keith thank you - good to see you and 'Appy new year...its been a long two weeks...we needs us a dose of Rosey
Deletevery colorful.
ReplyDeletehappy new year :)
Thank you Samyuktha..happy new year too
DeleteYou do sadness and despair very well in your writing Jae. However fulfillment and resolution are always missing just tiny steps to another place which is reasonable I suppose with Alice in hand.
ReplyDeleteThank you Old Egg - I suppose it maybe the case that we write what we know..maybe Alice will help or decide she is needed elsewhere...either way I hope some kind of fulfilment lies ahead..however small.. Thank you as always
DeleteI love when you give a reason to a child and they struggle to process it, frowning. "We need to be awake to open the door", much like "How can you wake up in the morning if you don't go to sleep?"
ReplyDeleteThank you J Cosmo - i wonder if it's Alice frowning or me ;) Life is a puzzle - happy new year to you!
DeleteI think opening up the door, to be awake, is a good thing.... A new year is still unwritten.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely way of thinking of it thank you Bjorn - a sentence at a time to fill the pages
DeleteYou've taken this theme far and beyond what one would imagine...No no breaks in the loneliness
ReplyDeleteNo gaps in the wall
that was such a plaintive cry.
Thank you thotpurge...i guess it is a bit of a (silent) plaintive cry - thank you kindly
Delete"No breaks in the loneliness / No gaps in the wall"...such loneliness is suffocating indeed...i like the smile, the waking up, the opening, the color in spite of the dark night....
ReplyDeleteThank you Sumana - it can be suffocating..hopefully there is always a crack of light..no matter how small..thank you kindly
Deletesuch an interesting maze of images, wonderfully written.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Natasa
DeleteLetting go of something or someone is common to start a new year. You have your way of painting sadness differently and I like it. Hope you and Alice will be in a more colorful place.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Jae.
Thank you kindly Totomai - a good wish! Good to see back too and happy new year
DeleteWonderfully well wordled. A disturbing poem - but I think that's what you intended.
ReplyDeleteThank you Viv - i think even if i aim for cheery it comes out a bit wrong - maybe once installed disturbed is hard to walk away from
Deleteas easy as the first step, that's a good new years option to hold on to
ReplyDeleteWIshing you Happy Creatives Hours in 2016 Jae
much love..
Thank you Gillena! Wishing you many creative hours and a good new year too
DeleteMay the colors in the last remaining light stay and be even brighter in the sun of the following day! Happy New Year, Jae.
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly Mary - a bright and happy year to you too :)
Deletenicely put, happy new year
ReplyDeleteMy 3WW post :New Year New Beginning
Thank you very much Cifar..best wishes back
Deletelove the playing with colors! Hello Jae, hello Alice!
ReplyDeleteHello hello James - thank you very much and good to see you back!
DeleteI also liked, "No breaks in the loneliness
ReplyDeleteNo gaps in the wall" as others have above, but also "Cold
I climb the tufts of her sleeve
Explore the bones in her wrist
She is delicate". your use of enjambment aids the read here, nice
Much appreciated..thank you OT
DeleteSo good to see you again Jae :D this is such a perfect poem for the start of new year. Beautifully executed :D
ReplyDeleteLots of love,
Sanaa
Thank you Sanaa - good to see your smiling face too! Much appreciated..
DeleteI think it would be nice to make color to replace the grey areas. You need to be awake to let the sunlight in and fill the room with brightness.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back!
Thank you Truedessa - and for the welcome back (in all ways)...good to see you
DeleteI read your poems with the fascination of an eavesdropper on the conversation of strangers. Your characters are so intriguing, as they discuss quite ordinary plans for going out. I wonder if Alice is a child, lover or alter ego.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Kerry - if I ever read back I often feel like an eavesdropper too..I wonder if Alice maybe a composite of all three...thank you for your insightful comment
Delete"Green as holly
ReplyDeleteRed as night." : hmm, very christmasy colours.
oh yeah, the night skies over here lately are red (and rainy). must be Alice's work. :)
But of course! Thank you kindly ds...grey and rainy here..red and rainy sounds intriguing...thank you :)
Delete'We need to be awake to open the door'...yes..and you did it! Red colour - the colour of year 2016, at least at Chinese calendar...colour of action, passion and love! way to go! bright and sound year to you, Jae!
ReplyDeleteAnd a bright and sound year to you also thank you humbird - i didn't realise red was this years colour...it is always cheering to look at
DeleteI too often feel as though I am watching a play or movie...not meant to hear, but I cannot tear myself away...I love the idea of, 'We make colour in the last remaining light'.
ReplyDeleteDonna@LivingFromHappiness
Thank you Donna - I suppose it's good to be engrossed in the stories we make!
DeleteAn angel! and color! Brave new world! Happy new year, Ms. Jae Rose.
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly Susan...we step forth tentatively! And a happy new year to you also
DeleteYou must be awake to open the door. I love this line, how suggestive and mysterious it is. I'll be thinking about that image for awhile!
ReplyDeleteThank you Matthew - sometimes it's the obvious things that need pointing out even to ourselves - well for me at least!
Delete"She wants me, all of me" suggests to me a child who demands your full attention. But then I get the impression that she has died with the blue, cold fingers and "bird of bones"...so intriguing. Enjoyed this mysterious dialogue between you and Alice.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insightful comment Bodhirose..i suppose all of us leave our childhood selves behind
DeleteI like how the first three lines repeat at the end and from "I" to "We". Making color - joy and sorrow, alone and together, opposites, like red and green. A happy new year to you to make of it what you will, to make it with color.
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly Toni - hopefully it won't be such a giant mess as the previous year...
Delete"She is delicate like a bird of bones" - beautiful. Opening the door and going out into the twilight is progress. Next week you can try the morning....Smiles. Your writing, as always, is brilliant. No one writes like you. Keep doing it, okay? Let's think: "Book!" for 2016.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your unswerving faith Sherry - who knows by this time next year i maybe ambulant all day and busy with my pencil and notepad regardless of the hour ;) thank you..and 'go your book' in return
Deletea wonderful read. Clever as usual :-)
ReplyDeleteZQ
Thank you as ever ZQ :)
DeleteThe first and last three lines are so important and, I think, confer a sort of purpose - or perhaps, a loose structure - to the wonderful cascade of images and action that flow between. Awesome!
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly Wendy...loose structure is perfect...maybe in time we will reach the dizzy heights of having a purpose!
DeleteMaking colors. Although we are quite a distance apart, that line alone makes me smile and feel that we are much closer than we may know. With all of my coloring, I have only recently allowed myself to play freely with red. And I'm loving it,
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
Thank you very much Elizabeth...your words of encouragement are always in front of my writing spot..and i like that we both like red..as ever night wasn't my first choice of word but looked at in a different way red can be more than the obvious connotations..have fun with that colour too!
Delete
ReplyDeleteWe make colour in the
last remaining light
Opportunity can easily be lost if one is engrossed in other 'time-wasters' that seem to take too much of our time and attention!
Hank
True enough Hank - although Alice is ever faithful... ;) thank you very much
Deletewow! another wonderful piece of work! you're really good at this...I love the ethereal quality of your writing, the conversations and observations.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Mama P - much appreciated!
DeleteA lovely piece of reds and greens....perfect for the season!
ReplyDeleteRed is really my favorite color, too!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Annell - we are a bit late catching up with the season but glad we are in good company liking red :)
DeleteI love the scene, the surreal feel to it with questions of which part is real. Your poems are always luscious with thoughts - maybe many of them are red.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Jae.
Thank you very much Myrna - luscious thoughts sound good! And Happy New Year to you also
DeleteI love the poetic places u go ... tenderness in the woods of touch and feel...
ReplyDeleteThank you Ms Pie (generally speaking they are the only places we go..maybe we need some fresh air!) ;)
Delete