poem: Passing Through the Grays

"And in the gray of the morning, my mind becomes confused, between the dead and the sleeping, and the road that I must choose" -Moody Blues

Directory of Prof Kang Yu-yi's artwork:http://www.superwork.com/kin_en.htm

for MS

 

Strolling in the cold December rain today, among the evergreens,

I am awash in a world of muted grays,

spilling over and around and above me-

a Master Artist's brush dipped in the color of rising mist,

and watercolored across the hills

 

[Any painter will tell you that "gray" is not a mix of black and white,

(as Nature always abhorred Hammurabi's code)

but rather the blending of complementary colors,

creating soft warm and cool shades, like our lives

intersecting with contradictory people and emotions,

like us]

 

and there are so many grays here, each lovely-

moss gray, granite gray, mist gray, ice gray, rain gray

birch gray, beech gray, spruce bud gray

tuft of winter deer hair gray,

love gray,

and the gray of the silence devoid of a winter wren's melody.

 

[and pine after the rain was always my favorite scent!]

 

perhaps my alizarin and ultramarine met your cadmium

in just the correct proportion

to sketch these schist and feldspar boulders upon which I sit

observing delightfully the start-stop-start and crash!

of an ice jam in the river

 

[gold sunlight suddenly illuminating a sandbar to break the gray]

 

I think, "that wren hadn't sung for us in a while",

and the rain drops catch on hemlock spires,

catching the light just so, like that,

reminding me of the angle of your back when we used to

make love in the snow, on mountain tops

our love moving in fits and starts, like those icy plates

 

there is gray with a hint of green, the color of the lichens

where we watched the sunset on the rocks

in the warm sun and twilight march

blues and pinks and reds and yellows... fading at last to

warm violet gray, not yet the violent gray'

 

[the mist softens the clarity of focus through that lens]

 

when I'd stand and wait for your words

to rain down on my skin, like little pieces of granite

chipped from the stone of my heart.

I tried to wash those grays away with snow, purest white

but the stain never quite leaves, does it, once the white is blended by gray?

it just fades as more white is added, diminishing in hue.

 

passing through the grays, today, I observe in wonder

and think of you-

how much you would have loved to watch this ice jam with me here

catching my breath in spaces between the trees, sentinels

to every beautiful thing I ever felt for you

with the canopy holding those thoughts gracefully,

like an angel's arms

 

[and I'll always think of you when I smell pine trees in the rain]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

written for someone who thinks I hate him but I don't

Reviews

[An owl on the moon]

This is so profoundly moving... etching the world in the most brilliant grays and showing such subtle inflection... thoughts... feelings... Your writing is focused and crisp, and you make an amazing world with your thoughts on life and love. Amazing!

[Ravyne Hawke]

Congrats on your contest win. I got trapped in your grays and fell in love with this well-written, easy flowing break-up poem. You carried the metaphor of the gray perfectly through-out this entire poem. I was stunned by your imagery and rhythm.

[Marie Anzalone]

Thank you, Lori, this one was very difficult to write, and I am glad it came through the way I intended. It was a soft poem written about a hard place.

[Ravyne Hawke]

*nods* I can see why you used gray then.. it softens any corners and hard places.

[Helen Crutchett]

Absolutely stunning in content and presentation. I can't praise this enough Marie. Thank you for sharing this beauty!

[Cool Handless Luke]

it's too personal and close to you to really leave an objective review - it just teases the heart and crushes the lungs with its truth. i hope he reads it and comprehends the depths of your words. very thoughtful and impressively told.

[Tina Kline]

There's a lot of sadness in this very beautiful poem. It was like it was written with an artist's brush. Your words blended the colors well which enhanced the message in the poem. The hurt and pain of missing someone, wishing they were there. I hope this someone learns the truth in your feelings. Impressive write. Enjoyed this 100%.

[Tate Morgan]

Beautiful I cant imagine you hating anyone
Tate

[Michael X]

you are amazing with words and emotions, i found this beautiful and holds an air of enlightened feature, and the readers breathes such soft analogies.
I really enjoyed reading such creativity, Wow.

[Georgia Gypsy]

I am in awe of the beautiful imagry, mixed with melencholy reflection, and the way you have opened the eyes over the color grey. I've heard so many call it a cold color, but i love it...it is a misunderstood color. So full of wonderfulness, this color has so much to give and share if we only observe with open eyes all its beauty.
I must say, that i feel as if i took this walk too. Thank you for that;) Nature is always so soothing.

[cest la vie]

From the title I had no earthly idea what I was in for in this poem..
I should have known (coming from your pen) it would be a magnificent treat and it most certainly is that.
Marie,
your ability to take the color scheme(of a color)and weave a beautiful, magical tale is astounding. The senses delight you describe and joy is most wonderful. I see the deep love for the person this was written about.. I hope they read it and take comfort in the love that was and the remains that are still so evident. It's ok to have loved and let go. When you have sensory delights like this to remind you.

I have to say this one is up there in your top two in my book. So, so proud....

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

Wow you kept me captivated from beginning to end with your extraordinary wording... the levels of emotions and spirituality you capture with in the poem is astronomical... and the use of grays a symbol of life and how there are so many blurred lines depending on the eye that sees them. Your talk of the black and whites made me think, I use to work many years in the paint department and know much bout colorant and reading that I thought of how actually when you mix a bit of black into white it will actually brighten it which is symbolic of life, for sometime those little bad things that happen become a blessing, just a thought that came to mind... a really wonderful piece of literature and artwork.