I Dream In Color
Running outside
My little feet wrapped
And body bundled against the cold
I fly
Into the snow
I am taken
By its warmth
But more so by its color
I dream
In many colors
The rainbow before me
Lies on the ground
In my backyard so deep
A child
Surrounded in warmth
For years to come
I still dwell
In the hills of rainbow snow
Taken
Home in my mind
A favorite memory
Not for real
They say you can't go back
But I do
And still dream in color.
(Feb 2005)
I'm not a poet. By that I mean I'm not trying to make my name as a poet. I'll leave that to those who study the technique, form, style, and work at improving their particular craft. I'm a novelist who likes to play in poetry now and then.
It's funny, I suppose, since I've been writing poetry much longer than I've been writing novels. My first was in high school after a successful day of marching band when we won first place in a parade. We did that often but this was my first time. As an expressive outlet I wrote a little ditty that started:
We are closer
Almost here
All the traffic
Hope for cheers...
Well okay, but it was my first and I was about fourteen. From that came an explosion of teenage angst stuff that I won't bother retyping, and some holiday stuff ... only spurts of thoughts. With my youth and naivete, I was taken in by one of those companies looking for poets only so they could sell you their "anthologies" *sigh* - ah well, it helped land a feature in my local paper! I had just graduated high school by then and was on the front page in an article that showed off my creative tendencies. It included the "published" poem and a drawing I'd done that received a blue ribbon in the state fair. Talk about feeling important! ;-) Maybe it wasn't so much, in the grand scheme of things, but it was encouraging.
I have to always give credit to my poetry background for helping to give me a jump start into an eventual writing career. I'm still not a poet, but I still write poetry at times. I love the quick expression, the hidden meanings (sometimes so hidden readers are left scratching their heads - oops), and the free-writing creative emotional release. I love the way when I write poetry it surges the feel of it through my prose, as well. It makes me a better novelist. Anything that taps such deep inner feeling will do that.
I'll share one more, a fairly recent one (bypassing the I Once Ate A Cat poem) that came from a prompt since I also love grabbing a prompt and simply planting myself in front of a blank sheet of paper and letting the words come out as they will. This has no editing - it's true free writing, an exercise I highly enjoy:
More
Deeply, you love me, you say
More than I
But wait
You cannot, I say
More cannot exist
Strongly, you show your pain
Your tears
Won't sway
I believe, I say
More cannot exist
Take heart
Take strength
Take all I am
All I have, within
I have no fear, I say
You stay
Stay within bounds, unwound
Unseen are
My tears
I have no fear, I say
While you are near
Deeply, I love you, I swear
More than you
I dare
You cannot, you say
More cannot exist
Strongly, I hide my pain
I smile
On display
You believe, you say
In my strength
But wait
My strength
Belongs to you
All I have, within
I get from you, I swear
You cry
More, I say
And smile
More exists
(Feb 2007)
LK Hunsaker
www.LKHunsaker.com
Welcome to Lindsay's Romantics, where we post on all kinds of romance topics.
5 comments:
Hi Loraine, I really enjoyed reading these as I can feel how much you loved playing with the words, letting them simply come out on to the paper. Free writing is a great way of breaking the shackles (must go and do more of it myself!) I did smile when you mentioned about some meanings being too-well hidden, oh, sadly too often too true. For me, a successful poem is one where the poet crystallises her/his meaning perfectly, so perfectly you just want to shout 'YES!' You're encouraging me to look at the process in a different way. Thank you. :) Keep on playing!
Jane x
Beautiful, free-flowing creative poems, Loraine. I was fascinated, too, by your journey as a writer beginning with poetry. Thank you so much for sharing!
Loraine, I'm not much of a poetry person, but I do like your "I Dream in Color".
Jane, I like poems that are easily understood and some I have to think about. EE Cummings is my fave and his are a bit strange but such wonderful wordplay! Thank you for coming by. :-)
Lindsay, before poetry I wrote some musical plays and a fan fic play but poetry opened a new world. Thanks for inviting me to be here!
Linda, I'm honored! That came from an actual dream when I was young where the snowfall was indeed rainbow colored and warm. Strange how some things stick with you forever.
LK, the poet in you shines forth beautifully. Thanks for sharing. As I read your 'I Dream in Color' , I felt as if I was inside a dream... and loved it.
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