Color My World
- Cathy Stenquist
- Mar 19
- 2 min read
Happy Spring, everyone! This year, the change in seasons has been a long time coming. But this week I saw little buds starting to form on skinny maple branches—their red color popping against the blue sky. It made me so happy! And then the surprise of a single crocus flower in my snowy backyard inspired this little ditty!
The promise of growth, new life, and the resurrection of plants from their winter beds fills me with hope. Color is about to explode in the coming weeks, announcing spring.
Bring it on!
Thank you to poet Alan J. Wright, who mentioned Petula Clark's song, Colour My World in his comments last week. Such a fun song that takes me back. Crank it up!
In honor of spring, these are the colors I chose this week:
Dandelion
Wild Strawberry
Spring Green
Dandelion
When I saw the name of this golden color, I did some research and was fascinated to learn about the dandelion's history. For gardeners, it is a great companion plant, as its taproot brings up nutrients for shallow-rooting plants. Maybe we should see this little herb in a new light.
Wild Strawberry
"It's the berries!" is a 1920s slang phrase meaning "an event that's highly enjoyable or desirable." The color, Wild Strawberry, reminded me of Kevin Keanne, a cute little blonde fellow who attended my licensed daycare years ago. He disappeared on a field trip to a local U-pick farm and was found with a smear of berries on his face. The cutest thing I ever saw. How could I be mad?
Spring Green
On a walk one spring day, I noticed new baby maple leaves that had just unfurled, hanging wet and limp from the branches. It reminded me of butterflies' wings, which need time to dry and inflate so they can fly. I called the poem, Eclosion, which means "the emergence of an adult insect from a pupa or a larva."
Thank you to Tanita S. Davis for hosting POETRY FRIDAY Round-up on her blog SO MANY BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME this week. Be sure to stop by to check out the other poetry links. Tanita has a powerful video about the power of poetic words in songs. Seeing people coming together in peace to sing of a better way moved me so. Spring is a time of new life, new beginnings and hopefulness. Let's "Hold On" and sing our way to love and peace.
Happy Spring Everyone!
That sneaky crocus! She's been popping up to tease Spring in a lot of places!
Cathy, I love the word "eclosion" -- and the Alleluia that erupts from it. :)
All three of these are "chef's kiss"! especially love your appreciation for dandelions. My husband hates them with a passion, but I love that they are the first food source of spring for the pollinators. The berry photo + poem made me smile. And the metaphor of new-leaves-as-butterfly-wings is spot on!
Cathy, your color poems come just in time for a delightful spring. I thought the Strawberry color on Little Kevin's face must have been so adorable. This was the favorite poem of the three but each poem is a lovely color poem. Thanks for another look at reading your creative poems.
Ah, the crocus reeled me in and then I was delighted to stay for the dandelions, wild strawberries, and the green of spring! Lovely, lovely!
Cathy, what a sweet, sweet collection of poems. I think the ditty about the purple crocus "woke us" is my favorite, but then there is the strawberry, and the dandelion. Oh, my yes, the dandelion may be my favorite. It does depend on how you look at it, and those last images after "One man's weed..." images of the magic of the dandelion are so pure and compelling. Just beautiful! Yes, indeed! And I love the shape of the dandelion poem. Then again, there is the spring green and your beautiful description of those opening butterfly wings. Ah, they are all my favorites this week.