Poem inspired by the title of Henry Vaughan’s masterpiece, “Sweet Empty Sky Of June Without A Stain.”
Why are salt marshes frequently overflowed?
Why am I drawn toward a moonlit path with intensity?
I wish for tranquility to carry me through time,
wear it as skin and allow June to deflect the bleakness of day.
Why does spring allude to violet obsession?
Why do oyster whispers echo within its own silent exterior?
Nowadays my mood quickly shifts from tired
to mellow,
when at dusk silence follows thalia pink and knock-out orange,
there is something to be said about love
having dipped its toes in bitter blues and vulnerability
I can’t remember what it was like before I met you,
to breathe in spaces
between empty whites and mauve hankering,
why is the tongue fretful?
why isn’t your heart tuned to my softest serenade?
I can no longer make sense of things
nor remember if berries
in blackberry bramble cocktail were macerated by cinnamon.
Photo credits: Loui Jover, Cocktail.
Word List: Salt Marshes, Moonlit Path, Violet Obsession, Thalia Pink, Knock-out orange, Serenade, Blackberry Bramble.
Posted on Artistic interpretations by Margaret @ Real Toads
Also sharing on “Open Link Night + Live” @ dVerse Poets Pub
68 Responses
What a wonderful cocktail of hues… wonderful and wild
Thank you so much, Bjorn 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
I like your colors, Sanaa. I may have a :violet obsession: because those and dandelion’s were the first flowers I knew. After that was “mint” not a flower a couple of years later. Incidentally violets do not grow here along the Gulf Coast of Texas. Probably not enough winter.
..
Thank you so much, Jim 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
The visuals and the cocktail hues bring everything together of a spark of beauty and wholeness.
Thank you so much, Charlie 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you ❤️
This is full of gorgeous images that come to mind Sanaa. Lovely.
Thank you so much, Linda 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Wonderful cavalcade of color; years ago we used hues as a prompt at dVerse; it garnered some interesting poetry.I want to hear some /oyster whispers/.
Thank you so much, Glenn 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
I like your flow of thoughts and questions, up against that lovely artwork.
Thank you so much, Jade 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Nice use of questions. The colors you used to describe the sunset are fantastic!
Thank you so much, Jenna 😀 so good to see you ❤️
Nice line: “having dipped its toes in bitter blues and vulnerability”
Thank you so much, Frank 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
The questions keep the reader wondering why as well? This part sticks out to me the most. Love can lead to feelings of melancholy blues.
there is something to be said about love
having dipped its toes in bitter blues and vulnerability
Thank you so much, Truedessa 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you ❤️
If only the one desired would return such love … a romantic poem – a longing one – I particularly love the questions – sets it up nicely.
Thank you so much, Margaret 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
(and thank you for the lovely prompt) 🌹
So many questions, Sanaa, make my head spin with a kaleidoscope of colours. I particularly love the shades and emotions in the lines:
‘there is something to be said about love
having dipped its toes in bitter blues and vulnerability
I can’t remember what it was like before I met you,
to breathe in spaces
between empty whites and mauve hankering’.
Thank you so much, Kim 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Sumptuous! the questioner is so poetic Sanaa and evidently dreams in colour:
“Why does spring allude to violet obsession?
Why do oyster whispers echo within its own silent exterior?”
Thank you so much, Laura 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
I love the mood that shifts from tired to mellow… just a wish for tranquility and perhaps a berry cocktail. The image and the write are very well paired and highlight each other beautifully.
Thank you so much, Lori 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
“having dipped its toes in bitter blues and vulnerability” Oh I love that line! Beautiful poem
Thank you so much, Susie 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Such questions from the stirrings of spring (stirred like a cocktail) :)–the spring’s obsession with violets and oyster whisperings, and the colors, and forgetting it all in the mad stirring (again) of love.
That’s a great painting and title, too. 🙂
Thank you so much, Merril 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you ❤️
You’ve woven a captivating scene…Well painted!
Thank you so much, Vivian 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
I like the way you’ve woven the colours of nature into pondering thoughts and the way the poem shifts smoothly into reflections of love.
This is wonderful…”I wish for tranquility to carry me through time,
wear it as skin and allow June to deflect the bleakness of day”
Thank you so much, Mish 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
there is something to be said about love
having dipped its toes in bitter blues and vulnerability…
These two lines are just brilliantly placed within the description.
Thank you so much, Kerry 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Love your poem that seems to end with a touch of sadness! Things do change over time. Well done!
Thank you so much, Dwight 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you ❤️
This is excellent Sanaa. A fine read. Well done!
Thank you so much, Rob 🙂 so glad you liked it ❤️
So many vivid images and passionate feelings here! I love this. 💘
Thank you so much, Dr. Crystal 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Love the oyster’s whisper, and the cocktails, of course.
Thank you so much, Sara 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Ah, this is very tasty, though unfortunately I think my mood registers as 100% tired. LOL
Thank you so much, Marian 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you ❤️
What a lovely rainbow to revisit…. great to see some old stuff and rearead.
Thank you so much, Bjorn 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
It’s one of my favorites from the archive 🥂
Heavy on the reverie ginning up this cocktail but it ages well into the murkiness of the time where its love or die denying.
Thank you so much, Brendan 🙂 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
So glad you shared this again….I must say, you had me with the title. Just absolutely beautifully writ. I’ve said it many times….you are the queen of romance!
Thank you so much, my dearest Lillian 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
“mauve hankering” is brilliant, Sanaa! As is so much else in this colourful poem!
JIM
Thank you so much, Jim 😀 so glad the poem and its imagery appealed to you 💄❤️
You speak my love language of color and longing, a hue of overflow and ache – unraveling, a disorientation, truly beautiful.
Thank you so much, Anna 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
A tale that touches much, before arriving at that absolute killer ending…one cannot but not feel it….Stunning, quirky, original, intense…splash of colours and moods
Thank you so much, Ain 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
You wove the phraeses in well! So much colour!
Thank you so much, Kim Whysall 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
An exquisite poem, Sanaa! I love this thought:
Why do oyster whispers echo within its own silent exterior?
Thank you so much, Dwight 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
What fun, Sanaa! I love the way you play with colors!
❤️❤️❤️
Hi Sanaa!
I love all the colors (of course!), and the closing is wonderful:
“I can no longer make sense of things
nor remember if berries
in blackberry bramble cocktail were macerated by cinnamon.” 💙
Thank you so much, Merril 😍 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
I do miss the Garden. Thanks for bringing back some fine memories, Sanaa ~
What a gorgeous tumble of sensations, Sanaa! I love all the questions and musings – so beguiling! 🙂