Thanks to everyone for helping celebrate the release of DICTIONARY FOR A BETTER WORLD! What a fun time. :)
This has been a travel-week for me, so filled with wonderful new adventures... and also a new "red" poem. Yay! This one kind of went in a direction I wasn't expecting... and I am still not sure what it means! You can read more about the beautiful art on Google Arts & Culture.
When Red Pours Down the Mountain
Dreams seethe,
possibilities
slosh –
Red tumbles us high
into tomorrow.
With a gush,
rush –
whether we're ready
or not –
Red floods the sky.
- Irene Latham
I love how unsettling it is, and I love that you don't know what it means. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I love the mystery of it, too. Who knows what's going on when we write? xo
DeleteAm loving your red poems. This one definitely invites different interpretations. I like the energy and power conveyed with all the action verbs.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jama! Verbs are one of our most powerful tools. :) xo
DeleteSo much emotion 'seethed' this past week, perhaps that red comes from there? Sometimes the words "gush" without us knowing. It's a lovely response to that amazing art, Irene. I've read about half of yours and Charles 'Dictionary'. I am in awe with the beauty of the words shared, written, advice given, & Mehrdokht's art! Hurrah! And thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes, you could be exactly right! Thank you for your kind words about DICTIONARY. Means so much! xo
DeleteRed is so powerful! And you've painted a unique word picture with this poem. My favorite phrase:
ReplyDelete"Red tumbles us
high into tomorrow."
I'm #9 in line for the 10 copies on order by KCLS of Dictionary for a Better World. Something tells me this is one I'll have to own. I'll be adding it to my wish list for Mother's Day or birthday.
Oh how lovely! Thank you for sharing that, Ramona. I hope you enjoy it. xo
DeleteOooh. Very personal and ominous. Love it!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Laura... I really didn't intend for it to be ominous. (Love when that happens!) xo
DeleteI'm loving the language; slosh / gush / rush. And seething dreams. So yummy to say - though slightly ominous to imagine. So glad you've had a wonderful week with your 'Dictionary to a Better World' - that book will always take me straight back to NCTE Baltimore and wonderful memories!! You are writing a better world! xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kat, and yes, what a magical time that was! So happy to know you! xo
DeleteI love the energy and movement--gush and flood and tumble and slosh.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kay! Yes, I enjoyed those water/flood words... and ironically we had flooding in our area this past week (though I've been out of town and have only seen pictures!) xo
DeleteI feel like I'm rubber-necking on something. It's disturbing. But, I don't know quite what happened. Unsettling! Ruth got it right away.
ReplyDeleteI have so loved looking through Dictionary for a Better World. This book is far more than I expected. It truly is a resource book and an idea book and a dictionary. It's a lot! I absolutely love it and I'm just so happy that it's in the world and getting to know all of us. Thank you and Thanks to Charles too.
"It's a lot" could be the best assessment of the book yet. :) :) :) Thank you! xo
DeleteI'm not sure what it means either, but the tone of the poem is palpable— engaging and interesting to think about. Congratulations on DICTIONARY'S RELEASE, Irene! I can't wait to have a closer look.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Michelle! I hope you enjoy the book. xo
DeleteI also think there are different ways one can view your poem–it does feel like some kind of change though, as you've put 'whether we're ready
ReplyDeleteor not –" beautiful values in the reds of this handsome painting. I'm looking forward to reading my own copy of "DICTIONARY FOR A BETTER WORLD! " too, congrats with it! xo
Thank you Michelle! I appreciate your kind words and hope you enjoy DICTIONARY! xo
DeleteSuch an interesting poem, Irene! It feels both full of possibility and yet full of menace at the same time--like a cataclysmic natural event. Congratulations on all the fun with the celebration of Dictionary. I can't wait to get my hands on it!
ReplyDeleteDonna! Thank you so much for stopping by. xo
DeleteMaybe this is the up-down-come-on-in-look-out-hold-on first poem in your book called RED. It will be a serious book, encouraging us to get down to business with passion unleashed.
ReplyDeleteYou also are brilliant, and so your compliment makes me glow. Red floods my heart.
Thank you, Heidi! I love when we can inspire each other. xo
DeleteHa--you writing that your not sure what your poem means makes me smile. But whatever it means, its sounds tumble me high into red heaven.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Buffy, for sharing in my Red fun! And what joy to see your new book making its way to readers.. yay! xo
ReplyDeleteSuch a powerful sense of ominousness in this poem, Irene.
ReplyDeleteThis short poem packs a powerful punch, Irene! All those verbs make me feel like I'm tumbling down that hill or shaken awake by the "red flood[ing] the sky."
ReplyDelete