read write prompt #114,
all over the map
by Deb Scott
A Wordle Word Bank prompt, choose all or a few (this time, I choose just one). Red.
Read the RWP prompt for full descriptive details.
Read other participants responses to this prompt.
mariquitas gusta comer
Red. The simpler the word, the more the meaning
The surface of an apple sucks in all light except the color red
That’s what means, the nature of a thing is defined by what it isn’t
Artists may paint a sky as red, not because it is, but because
And those who aren’t feel constraint inside a common eye
An ocean, a lake, a duck, an old alley cat, these aren’t red
But they drink it up all within themselves, tomatoes inside
What we’ll do for red. Be blue, be confused, bemused
Better red than butter too. Red howls at the moon
Round and about seven hundred billionths of a metre is red
just before we go blind beneath
Increasing contrast to a silver salted eye,
side-to-side choosing only one, turns sky black overhead
good luck, if you’re Chinese!
Things we lost in the fire. Red smokes quietly, likes the taste
Red in tooth and claw, one third the color of a quark, everything
Red sings to the mirror, comes back mottled black
like an ocean can’t see burning fish
So what’s the brightness of an eye?
Land, earth, aboriginal sight? Death, celebration,
summoning, a wedding gown? Sacrifice, sin (aberrant
disguise?) like-wise purity (divine or otherwise),
too much or just right, decidedly Yang
If you’re a star, red means you’re rather cool
and red’s when you wave bye-bye away
Reds include districts of sin and badges of courage, both
or make a little rust and we’ll call you Mars
Red sky at night, sailor’s delight!
Apples like to be sweet, bricks relish being steadfast
while barns like animals, and cherries like to be on top
lobsters blush, as hydrants are dog’s best friends
lips entice, ladybugs love to eat, red pens, a teacher’s rule
rubies cluster desire, and red shoes write diaries
while radishes caution and peppers make sweat
Tomatoes are for the brave of heart
And red wagons pull things around
And five days afore Christmas day, that red flyer delivered
to grandmother’s house. “Oh is that for me?”, young heart
fluttered the words. “No”, said she, “for the boy down the street”
And I believed for five days more!
Red. The more the meaning, the less precise
But a good idea all the same
Neil Reid © February 2010
bearly audible 
Mothership of a poem Neil. It pulls disparate elements into a common universe. Weaves a potent spell. Awesome work!
Words I wouldn’t have thought to use! But welcome and very pleased. Thank you much Irene!
Enjoyed the musing in this.
‘ … the nature of a thing is defined by what it isn’t’
I think this is my favourite line.
Thanks Anthony! Yes, a rather key line that is, and literally meant. I wonder what it might fit!
I prefer sangria, but your crystals of salt here are lovely. Grandmothers should not lie, though. Red, not being hacksaw and footlocker, must have consumed them. Did you know there is a Paul Robeson tomato?
The better to see you with Miss Nelle. And twas but in defense of surprise, thus forgiven its effectiveness! And no, but I do now, and from Siberia no less, indeed.
Red is certainly a color that cannot be ignored. This was a fun read, Neil!
Glad if you had fun! Thanks zouxzoux.
I love use of the red here and everything you describe. A wonderful poem thanks for sharing Neil.
Kind of you Pamela. Thanks.
the use of red … is what I meant to say
Things we lost in the fire. Red smokes quietly, likes the taste A quietly devestating line amidst Red’s harangue. Very creative litany, Neil, enjoyed.
Thank you Marie! I appreciate the visit and comment from you.
Hi Neil:
I read this yesterday, and them came back and read it again. I like how you expound on the color, investigate it meanings. I’d have to say these are my favourite lines:
“Artists may paint a sky as red, not because it is, but because/And those who aren’t feel constraint inside a common eye”
And it is true. When we look at a work of art, we are seeing through the creator’s eyes.
Good work this week.
-Nicole
Thank you Nicole. Twice I guess! You get an extra gold star.
Considering the prompt I was making dictionary notes on all the words, then so simple a word as “red”, that first line came to me, “The simpler the word, the more the meaning”, and that’s what set me off to do that one word exclusively. Just how ‘wide’ can a word be defined?
Dictionaries, Wiki, and many more, leaning as much to the scientific as the more poetic. I seldom ever “study” that hard for a poem. But the more I did, the more it interested me. So a little poetic, some science, and some cultural. It’s a big stew!
Yes Nicole, several folks did catch on those lines, as did you.
Although, for me a slight shift perhaps, as I subscribe to the “golden thread” notion of poetry, as per William Blake,
“I give you the end of a golden string;
Only wind it into a ball.
It will lead you in at Heaven’s gate,
Built in Jerusalems’s wall”
So it’s not so much what a poem might or might not say about me, but where the thread leads for you, as reader and now equal participant. That’s how impressionism carries best meaning for me.
Thanks again, and pardon for bending your ear!
Wow…throughout the read, visuals overtook like a well planned trip to the cinema! My favorite line…
“Artists may paint a sky as red, not because it is, but because
And those who aren’t feel constraint inside a common eye”
Thank you
Thank you so much for the visit and pausing to say hello!
And yes, red I suppose, does deserve visuals.
What a wonderful mediation on a powerful color. There are many good lines, buy my favorites are the very first and this one: “Red sings to the mirror.”
Thank you Liz. I appreciate you visit and comment here!
For the record – I look terrible in red. In case you are keeping track. Second, I love the word “mottled” thank you for using it. And third – you live in San Jose? How did I miss that?
Enjoyed your red-ness this week, my friend.
Me too! (Or it scares me anyway when I see it on my body.)
The red-ness appreciates your visits here Julie, as always. And yea, I like “mottled” too! (Like “calico” too!)
And even a wee closer than that. Morgan Hill, not San Jose these days. Don’t say much cause only locals would even have a clue. A small town boy I am. Raised here, went away, and now I’m back again. Thanks again.
Neil I have a problem and I cannot access my account at RWP. Do you know anything about why I cannot? It says it’s suspended. Why is that?
Regards,
Pamela
Neil, I like the way you worked this color. Three letters with so much included! I love the way you start with the simplicity telling the complexity yet end with imprecision flowing out from all the detail.
What we’ll do for red. Be blue, be confused, bemused
Better red than butter too. Red howls at the moon
Nice!
Thank you Paul! I seldom “study” this hard, but it had some rewards. And it scratches at something I’ve really only begun – how to address the sciences, poetically. As here with red, from the wavelength to red filtering photography to polarizing dark skies to doppler tone and astronomic red shifting, and such. (Wonder how much or many even noticed much?)
And culturally, we adore (like red corvettes) yet quick think danger too, a sort of uncomfortable relationship, yet in the Asian east, it is all good welcome news, even considered peaceful in a way.
Glad if you enjoyed the little trek. Thanks again.
Never have I enjoyed reading about red as much as I did these few minutes. Interesting, enjoyable and intriguing.
Thank you so much! I was rather unsure of the path I took, but just went with full steam ahead. So thanks!
nicely done neil…. love red…..but not my favorite for my clothing….