I find a box of crayons on a desk.
At different colors I take a look.
I think of each color as picaresque -
as something or somebody in a book.
Three blues I see, such as blue-violet.
Blue-green might be a sailor’s home at sea.
Blue-violet could be a girl he’d met.
Purple is sky darkened, making him flee.
Although their passion had been orange-red -
black became his heart. He left love behind.
The girl’s heart, carnation pink, feels brown dead.
The cheer of yellow I now need to find.
I’ll draw a sun, and yellow I will use.
These dreamy crayons have too many blues.
AS I GAZE AT THE STAR-CROSSED SKY
I AGAIN RE-LIVE MY PICARESQUE
OF BOUNDLESS JOURNEYS WITH THE PEERESS
SEVEN SEAS I CROSSED FOR YOU
I REMEMBER YOU PICTURE-PERFECT
JUST LIKE'D PAINTINGS REMEMBER ITS ARTIST
YOU ALWAYS DID ABOUND IN MYSTERY
A GODDESS OF UNCERTAINTY
WHEN THE NYMPH AIDED THE WRECKAGE
YOU WERE THERE
WHEN LIFE PAID ME NO WAGE
YOU STILL WERE THERE
EVEN NOW THAT I SPEAK IN NO WORDS
AND YOU RATTLE STILL IN VIOLENCE
AS YOU RULE THE NIGHT STARS
I KNOW YOU REMEMBER, EVEN IN YOUR SILENCE
AS I GAZE AT THE STAR-CROSSED SKY
I AGAIN RE-LIVE MY PICARESQUE
OF BOUNDLESS JOURNEYS WITH THE PEERESS
SEVEN SEAS I CROSSED FOR YOU
I REMEMBER YOU PICTURE-PERFECT
JUST LIKE'D PAINTINGS REMEMBER ITS ARTIST
YOU ALWAYS DID ABOUND IN MYSTERY
A GODDESS OF UNCERTAINTY
WHEN THE NYMPH AIDED THE WRECKAGE
YOU WERE THERE
WHEN LIFE PAID ME NO WAGE
YOU STILL WERE THERE
EVEN NOW THAT I SPEAK IN NO WORDS
AND YOU RATTLE STILL IN VIOLENCE
AS YOU RULE THE NIGHT STARS
I KNOW YOU REMEMBER, EVEN IN YOUR SILENCE
I.
Whitening sands upmirror desert glare,
Glinting, underneath my mind’s burnt sun…
Paling, dream expanse.
And there I wander, rootless in some Netherwhere—
Mental vagabond, my trek begun…
Picaresque romance!
II.
Whitening bones appear by poison springs,
Dread oasis, tempting me to drink.
Shining, silver pool,
Mirage aglow. A maiden floats on glassine wings—
Beckoning me toward the toxic sink.
Reckless, I sip cool
Blighted waters. Thirsty fool.
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.