is red a primary color?

late evening left over chatter 

while she teaches the young girls

the fundamentals of coffee house art

i’m listening thru layers 

of walls and the spaces between us

ith red a primary color? 

the toddler musters the words 

with a lisp and bucked teeth

too adorable to ignore

so rudimentary, her thoughts 

i strain at the sink

wiping lip stick 

from a rich woman’s coffee mug

tapping my foot beneath its

stainless steel basin

picasso is in the kitchen beside me

relearning to color like a kindergartener

while their little beautiful eyes

have yet to understand

negro brown or indian red or chinese yellow

or the other little racist crayons

taken out of the sixty four pack

a modern day beatnick 

stretches his philosophy

across the cushioned chairs in front

of a six decade old set of congas

-- the girls don’t know what pretentious means yet

an old towel dries two hands

scalding water turned

salmon pink

funny how i don’t recall

caucasian peach ever being there at all

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

what a great statement here, and so subtly presented...love the "Picasso" stanza...
yes, they learn the hate, they are not born with it...

all the crayons look the same...and "pretentious" is a foreign word, not yet translated.

good stuff, x.

jacob

[Alfred Kukitz]

The poem seemed to float into my mind. All these issues raised, learned & swallowed by cute kids with buck teeth, like a slow handshake with life, gripping tenderly the small hands of tomorrow.

[Corset]

brilliant, prejudiced is taught by parents and by observing adult behavior, I love everything about this poem, how it encompasses everything from art to social behaviors, colors, reality, the sensation of scalded fingers and the innocence of children. exceptional work IMHO

[Beccy]

Beautifully drawn observations. Children 'learn' what they are told and I just adore the fifth stanza, and that line 'the girl's don't know what pretentious means yet.'

Funny thing about primary colours is that they are not predominant. Ask a scientist and you'll get a reply based on physics: “Black is not a colour, white is a colour.” Ask a child with crayons and you'll get another: “Black is a colour, white is not a colour.”

Not that colour itself matters.

Beccy.

[Pryde Foltz]

A night out so commonplace we forget all the subtext and subtleties. Excelling writing, here.

[Linda alexander]

Well penned, great flow, a true poet can take the reader wherever poet's mind wanders

[Lyn Anderson]

There are layers in this piece, and if I get it right, it's washing dishes and listening, and musing on the inequalities of who works in what position. It has a nice flow as do all your pieces, a story like quality with little vignettes of life woven into it.
One minor thing, I might say "fundamentals" instead of fundamental of coffee house art.
Nice to see you again.

[m.s.early]

Your grammatical attention is point on as usual KL. Thanks for reviewing :)