Sunday, November 3, 2013

Color wheel

Over at dVerse, Claudia offered us a color wheel-a chance to pick a color and write a poem. She colorful shared several of her gorgeous views.   This isn't a color I would normally pick, but  I am working on a piece of art.   I am intrigued by this book: 
The Gorgeous Nothings: Emily Dickinson's Envelope Poemsby Emily Dickinson.  I read about her penchant for the color white-so I decided to go with it.

 *Emily Dickinson's white dress*




Caged dove once painted
 white washed hope
grew up daisy eyed fresh
holding feathered whispers
of forbidden love
notes of white heat lost
tulle veil layered
 under frozen pearls
planting unseen roots
in pasture of stars
 pooling wax settles
threading her silken eyes
as stiff expectations
cloud her zigzag stitches
tearing glued sentiments
while rain pours
fertile thoughts onto
"The soul's clean white paper"


© Ellen Wilson





I did discover one of Emily's favorite books was Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.   This quote is in the book, as are many references to the color white.  I think Emily thought of herself as a canvas, a blank page.   

17 comments:

  1. I liked your phrasings, Ella. I especially liked "threading her silken eyes..." I enjoyed learning about Emily Dickinson's color preferences too.

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    1. Hi Mary! I read she stitched her own poems together into booklets...
      I too can connect with some of her views~ She preferred brown at one point and grew glorious flowers-which inspire many of her poems~

      Thank you!

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  2. the soul's clean white paper... love that close..and i love white flowers..daisies are my favs actually...have been when i was a kid already... i don't know much about emily dickinson i have to confess... but you made me curious to check her out a bit more..

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    1. Hi Claudia-I too love this quote and had to use it! I am making art reflective of three stages of her life. YOU saw the window-the other two will be filled with color. I am more curious as I explore her further-I suspect she had epilepsy. Sad... Thank you~

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  3. I'd like to think of myself as a blank page, a canvas, but alas I've been colored by life's journey - I'm a bit like a splattered paint painting! A mess, really! LOL
    Love the idea though!

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    1. Hi Yolanda-I too love the idea, but fear I am more like you a splattered painting. Life does that...but we still can live with the theory of being
      open and blank to embrace more of what we love~ @>--------
      Thank you

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  4. yes, i love the idea of considering oneself a blank canvas... of course, i'd have to use paint that could disappear as changes take place. {smile}

    lovely poem, Ella!

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    1. HI dani!!! Thank you so much~ I too love this and perhaps will wear white-but not around the house-I will spill everything on myself. My new name would be sponge...lol! ;D <3

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  5. I like all the permutations of white that you stitch together here, Ella ~

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  6. A beautiful capture of the poet. Wonderful write, kiddo! Yay! Good luck with your art challenge.

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  7. I like stiff expectations, And interesting info about Emily.

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  8. "The soul's clean white paper" spectacular line that completed the poem wonderfully...

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  9. I like the ending line as well Ella. White is an interesting phenomenon--being the presence of all the colors when it seems the absences of color.

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  10. I pity the poor caged dove. They fly freely here and raise a new family every spring. Yours would have loved to have seen the moon-lit puff-clouded sky here tonight in South Gulf Texas.
    ..

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  11. wow, this really captures a spirit of Emily Dickinson-- though i think she had many sides or facets, this really seems like a lens through which to view her. very nice!!

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  12. I love how you have woven many different references to white throughout your poem, Ella.

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