13 Ways of Looking at White

13 Ways of Looking at White

1.
Innocence, prized in the young,
pulling at strings of protectiveness,
or a perverted temptation.

2.
Ignorance, suggesting a willingness
to learn, or deliberate refusal
of knowing.

3.
An absence of color, while still
suggesting it.

4.
The definition of light
reaching into any
and all darkness.

5.
Empty, bare page
awaiting definition
of words and detail.

6.
Canvas longing for color
and soft, or bold stroke
of the artist’s brush.

7.
Clean fresh smell
of bed sheets taken from
the clothesline.

8.
Clouds like rapid waters
boiling over the peaks
of indigo-blue Montana mountains.

9.
First line on horizon
as dawn breaks over
dark rippling water.

10.
Gloves on hands
of long-ago
Easter Sunday tradition.

11. Underbelly of yearling
hawk as he flies
in perfect freedom.

12.
Doctor’s coat of only
hoped for healing.

13.
Or, a single bloom
that silently speaks
of personal power.

Elizabeth Crawford  4/9/2018

Notes: It’s my 72 birthday today, and I decided to do a bit more than my usual. I suppose I could of mentioned the few strands of white that now crown my head, but chose instead to reach back in memory for these particular images, from lives already lived.

Image is a photograph taken in my sister’s backyard. She came over, with her husband and son, yesterday to celebrate. Bringing lunch and carrot cake (my favorite), and a hand sewn, over the shoulder bag, made from a very old pair of denim jeans, decorated in colorful yarn, with sequins. It has both an inside and outside pocket and I love it.

The poem is posted at Waiting on Words 9: Word for day nine is White.
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