When Words and Painting Combine
The Colours Her Ears and Lips Divined
A colour-themed ekphrastic poem
Her world was painted shades of grey no colours did she need What her eyes could not perceive her ears and lips divined
Where she stood among tall trees her face tilted to the sky she heard the canopy wind laughing, iridescent orange in its glee
A fairy breeze danced with the hem of her gown effervescent silver sparkles, while all around about her bracken fern whispered, repeated lilac-tinged old wives’ tales
Spirals of bark scent wafted, old mixed with new shimmering powder blue to rich cobalt The leaves on the trees spoke to her a language of fondness and compassion intoned coral, sweet pea pink, and cerise
On her tongue was the taste of spring grass, crushed underfoot, vibrant emerald The delicate brush of fresh air through her hair crystalline mint with a hint of rose
And then, as if not to be missed, the moss on the rocks at her feet sighed pale lemon
© Carolyn Hastings 2022
I looked at the girl in Souminibanerjee’s lovely illustration and wondered what the girl was looking at. It occurred to me then that she wasn’t looking at anything because she was blind. What she was doing was perceiving her surroundings through her other senses. Who says ears can’t perceive colour?
Thank you, Souminibanerjee, for prompting my fantasy brain into action with your beautiful artwork. Thank you to the editorial team at Literary Impulse for hosting the When Words and Painting Combine challenge and for accepting my offering into their publication. 🙏 💕
There is still time to submit to the current prompt. I’m thinking of you — VerityAlways | Jim Dutton | Mark Tulin | Poetic Therapy | Josie Elbiry — if you have the time and the inclination. 🙏 ✨
The prompt details are here -
I would like to give a shoutout to Michelle Renee Kidwell’s tribute poem to Helen Keller, She Coloured The World.
And if you’re into colours like I am, you might like this one -
Thank you all for reading. 🙏 💕
Thank you in advance to David Perlmutter for his claps and highlights. David rarely leaves a comment, but he regularly claps and highlights my posts, and for that I am most grateful. 🙏 💙
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