 |
|
Photo © Jennifer Wagner |
I loved red long before Sammy sang of it,
my hair turning back to it,
sign and signal, siren rang of it.
Old brick station, ladder truck and engine,
your beard, my lips, leather jacket tassel tips,
’65 Mustang, candy apple red.
Blushing secret, unwrapped,
sugared red to pink. The sink
into red-petaled, satin, Valentine sheets.
Glass of cabernet, raspberry to plum,
Burt’s Bees Hibiscus Balm.
Autumn leaves, rubies.
Terra-cotta, sandstone,
sweet tomato bliss,
my broken favorite mug, blood,
and afterward, the kiss.
Red -- all the shades of it, taste and sight -- comes alive, to give us in the end the paradox of love and life, its "broken"-ness and mending "kiss." But can we trust it? Beautiful and unsettling, Jen.
ReplyDeleteAll the shades of red - the looking back, the memories. I love it.
ReplyDeleteAs an introvert whose favorite color is red, I'm well familiar with contradictions. You've done something different here with the rhymes that you usually don't use, and the result is an added grace and loveliness to the words even as they move from red to pink to crimson. The musicality is there not only in the rhymes but in the straight-off mention of I Can't Drive 55 Sammy Hagar and also the famous Red Rocks.
ReplyDeleteA certain element of recklessness, indulgence, and even danger spice things up to be sure, hence the popularity of the bad boy, especially to those to whom it is excitingly foreign. Inevitably it gets old and ends badly but oh some of those memories.
What a fun read, brings a smile to my face. ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful poem in praise of red - beautifully written and romantic - Jae
ReplyDeleteLovely! A great flow of language and feeling. Perfect ending.
ReplyDeleteRed - scarlet and crimson - So much life in colour, so much depth in your words.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this poem and the mention of all of the red things. In actuality, to me it has a certain progression, tells a tale (if you read behind the lines) and ends in a wonderful way -- with a kiss!
ReplyDeleteYay! A tribute to red. I haven't heard 'candy apple red' in a long time.
ReplyDelete