Sunday, June 16, 2013

The Colors in Between



This poem is inspired by what a thirteen-year-old boy musician would write to the girl he likes in the middle grade WIP I’ve almost completed. (So if it’s not any good, it’s because a thirteen-year-old boy sort of wrote it.)

Music’s hue
Is like a poem from Langston Hughes
Swirls and soars
A life beyond markings on pages

Your eyes bright,
You remind me of Van Gogh’s Starry Night
Hidden curls
Underneath a cupcake dress, you twirl

We are more
Than the clothes we wear, texture of hair
Pedigree
Ethnicities, strokes on a painting

True black’s like
A bear’s coat, the ocean at midnight
What is white?
Bright, like creampuff clouds sweeping the sky

With coloring,
I just see, the colors in between
Subtle shades
Expressionist details, contrasts fade

Truths whispered
Vibrant moments, memories, laughter
Our wishes
Just you, me, music, a dance, a kiss




P.S. Thank you to everyone who shared and especially donated for my Contest for a Cause  .

Peace First,  a local charity is working to reduce violence. Living in the Boston area, people here couldn’t help but feel it personally. Your support meant a lot to me.

There were people who donated, but just wanted to help. They didn’t take a book. There were also people who won, but aren’t blogger. Those who won and are bloggers:


 Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (signed)


 Dear Life, You Suck by Scott Blagden (signed)



 Jennifer Government by Max Barry (signed)



Congratulations to the winners! I’ll be in touch soon.

As a result, the remaining books will most likely be donated to Books for Boston , if it works out with the contributing authors/book donators. Details about Books for Boston HERE. 



64 comments:

  1. if I was the thirteen year old girl for whom this was intended, I would say fall in love!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Theresa .. what a great poem and I love the images you conjure for them both .. and would agree that it is a beautiful love poem. The colours in between ...

    Then I'm sorry I haven't been recently and so missed your contest for a cause .. congratulations to all who won, who gave, who entered and who donated their books ...

    Cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hilary, thank you. I wish I visited your blog more often too. There's a lot to do. We can't keep up with everything!

      Delete
  3. I think that thirteen year olds often write wonderful stuff. It's unpolluted by the nit-pickiness that is forced upon us in our later years, which tends to ruin the spirit of the thing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Petra, I think you're right. Sometimes I think adults don't give kids and teens credit for deep thoughts and creativity. And then they're taught what's the "right" way, which can take away that spirit.

      Delete
  4. aw, that's a romantic 13 yr old :)

    Congrats to the winners!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Loving the poem in vivid and striking colours!! Yay!!

    Take care
    x

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very alluring dance of the opposites here , thanks

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations to the winners.
    And that's really good for a thirteen year old boy. Think you nailed it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The last line is lovely. I wish I'd gone to school with boys who were happy to write poetry - they just grunted and scowled, even at 13 :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Annalisa, maybe they were deep way inside, underneath all that scowling and grunting.

      Delete
  9. I love this poem and the views of the 13 year old boy who wrote it. The girl who receives it is super lucky : )

    ReplyDelete
  10. Cute!! It reminds me of some of the things my 12 yr old has written for the girl he likes. (Things I've accidentally come across.) *twiddling thumbs*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Crystal, accidentally, eh? Glad to know there are real-life poet boys out there.

      Delete
  11. Woot! Thanks so much. ( and for some reason, this post didn't load in my blogger feed. sigh).

    And I hope you did raise some money for such a great cause.

    And And, I really loved this:

    We are more
    Than the clothes we wear, texture of hair
    Pedigree
    Ethnicities, strokes on a painting

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. L.G. Smith, congratulations! You found my post before I got around to emailing the winners. Sorry! I'll have to get your address.

      Thanks for the comment about the poetry.

      Delete
  12. I'm impressed that any middle grade boy, who'd refer to Starry Nights. He definitely has my vote. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I was totally taken in after the first two lines ~~ awesome writing!

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a romantic and interesting poem. I really like it.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hope the girl appreciates it -it's quite something for an adolescent boy to lay out his feelings quite so openly. We'll have to read the book to find out:-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jabblog, I think she appreciates it. I hope you get to read the book to find out!

      Delete
  16. Very sweet and quite daring for that kid! Hope it wins her heart.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Love the reference to Langston Hughes...a fave of mine...

    ReplyDelete
  18. it IS good -esp- we are more than the clothes we wear- :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Words A Day, thanks. The piece has a lot of references to parts of the book.

      Delete
  19. Love the poem! I'm desperate to see this one when you are done. I know how excited you are about it...

    I'm also excited I won a book....It sounds like the perfect book for me....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congratulations, Sharon. I hope you enjoy it. I met Scott at the NE-SCBWI conference and had him sign the same book for me, but I haven't read it yet.

      Delete
  20. Oh wow, thank you!!! As for the poem, I agree with Lady in Read-I would fall in love :) I love the innocence in it and the analogies. Really well done. Congrats to all the winners and I'm going to check out Books For Boston.

    Thank you again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Words Crafter, congratulations. Thanks for the nice words.

      Delete
  21. someone sure is lucky in love...wonderful write.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Himani. It was fun to write a poem from a 13-yr-old boy's POV.

      Delete
  22. So much truth in this:

    We are more
    Than the clothes we wear, texture of hair
    Pedigree
    Ethnicities, strokes on a painting

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laurie, thanks. This stanza seems to resonate with people. It's a big part of the theme of the book.

      Delete
  23. This is a wise young boy who 'writes' this ... we ARE so much more than the clothes we wear ... we are the subtle colors in between the black and white of life ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Susan. That stanza speaks to what both the boy and girl figure out through the course of the book.

      Delete
  24. My favorite part was where he compared her eyes to Van Gogh's Starry Night. I wish someone would write something like that for me. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Neurotic Workaholic, I wish someone would write something like that for me too. I'm the writer in my relationship. I've written poetry for my husband.

      Delete
  25. What a future in writing that 13 year old will have!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robyn ha, I hope so! His creator is working on creating a big future with her writing.

      Delete
  26. Wonderful voice- loved this piece!

    ReplyDelete
  27. It sounded like what a 13 year old would say. What talent, Theresa!

    Nas

    ReplyDelete
  28. Love your poem! Some very lovely phrases and lines in there. The cupcake dress, creampuff clouds, etc. :) Thanks for sharing it with us!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carol, thank you. I hope those lines also properly reflect what happens in the story. We'll see. I just completed the rough draft of the manuscript yesterday.

      Delete
    2. Good luck!! and congrats on completing the rough draft. :)

      Delete
  29. That's an evocative poem. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Turns out a thirteen-year-old boy writes way better poetry than I do!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Missed Periods, me too! I'm sure I was sleeping when my character wrote this.

    ReplyDelete