How to perceive red

Consider the persistence of memory,
how once seen, a red moon lingers
with a cinnamon-like tingle.
Remember the black widow’s
crimson hourglass in the garage
behind your cherry-bright bicycle.
Conjure the blood-lost wrench
of miscarriage: how the rose-
leather sofa, too soft for sorrow,
held the cast of a ruddy sunset.

Then there’s the leaden weight of rust,
how the muffler lost its battle with snow
and salt and dropped unexpectedly
because the pipes were rotten.
Your scarlet gloves sponged
the road’s grime and never washed clean.
Bleach was not a good idea. Fuschia
is not your favorite color.

Recollect the paint of death
on the ocher mummy, her curled
fingers stopped over the heart
with tragic calm. You could
not bear the quiet and fled
to the paintings, found Rubens’
Samson and Delilah. Her florid gown
dabbed his slumbered skin in carmine
shadows. There is no forgetting
the abandon of reason for passion.

Witness the autumn leaves dropped
like garnets on the front stoop,
how Mars rose in the east at dusk.
See the cardinal poised on the sill,
vermilion plumage puffed thick
as your son’s maroon scarf
against your arm.
Consider the persistence of love,
how once felt, it’s coral glow lingers
in memory’s quiet room, how red
is the color of the heart.

4 thoughts on “How to perceive red”

Red has always been my favorite color, now I know why. Great poem Christine!

Red has always been my favourite colour, too.:)Christine, I love this, from the image to the poem, it’s perfect!

while i can tell the photograph is beautiful, i have trouble distinguishing colors. i can see only see yellow or red if the hue is right. but i frequently can’t see muted or light reds at all. i can’t tell blue from purple, nor brown from green. all i see of a rainbow is a streak of colorless light through the sky. i am really flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants when i use color in a photograph.

Pat,Thank you for reading. I love red, too, as you can probably tell.Aurora,Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time (from what must be a crazy schedule) to read this. So kind of you.Eric,Oh no! My older brother has similar difficulties with color. He can’t tell the red from green on stoplights and knows when to go only by which circle lights up. It is amazing to me that you do such fine photography, nevertheless. Thank you for stopping by.