My last poetry swap of the summer arrived this past week and what a beauty it is! Jone Macculloch shared a picture of her west coast ocean with me, using a line from my recent east coast ocean sonnet to create an accompanying golden shovel poem. Her word choice and alliteration are delightful and her fabulous photo captures a heart in the surf. Really!? Isn’t it wonderful? The color, celadon!, is just fabulous and one I probably couldn’t have named, but as soon as I read it, I recognized it. I’m also delighted that the photo is neatly tucked into a magnetic frame that now has a place of honor on my refrigerator, in the midst of some other treasures. Every time I see it, I think of the ocean’s splendor and of poetry connections across the country. Thanks so much, Jone, for ending my first poetry swap experience so beautifully!

Jone’s poem reminded me of  a post by Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe way back in July. Heidi hosted the Poetry Friday Roundup and shared some recent PD experiences. One thing she shared was a wonderful color poem she’d written in response to this prompt: “We imagined that we had met a cloud of our favorite color on the street and taken a handful… ”

I had played around with this prompt some, but had forgotten about it until thoughts of celadon inspired me to look for it again. Here’s my draft response to the prompt:

Aubergine

Some call you dark purple
but I call you
aubergine
glamour surrounds you
a mysterious shadow
separating you from paler hues
Within your depths
black and purple
have kindled a new shade
warm yet regal
I reach my hand out to you
and feel a charge
startling, powerful
soft like plush ermine
hard like a faceted gem
Aubergine
we walk together
me at your heels
and I hear echoes of
late blooming lilacs
brushing against each other
in a spring tempest
their bruised blossoms
perfume the air

M. Hogan ©2018

I think I’ll toy around with this a bit more and I may revisit this prompt again–maybe I’ll write about celadon! Thanks for the inspiration, Heidi and Jone! While I’m shouting out  thanks, a huge one goes to Tabatha Yeatts for organizing the Summer Poetry Swap. It’s been a wonderful experience to participate, rewarding in so many ways. Thank you so much, Tabatha!

Poetry Friday this week is hosted by the inspirational Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche. Margaret has been very busy recently with all things wonderful associated with her newly published book, Bayou Song. This week she’s sharing a poetry swap poem she received and a poem she wrote. Both were inspired by other poems. Poems sparking more and more poetry! Gotta love that!