A parrot, a toucan,
a horse’s head,
and a girl in red shoes
follow a manikin
walking like an Egyptian
into the room
where I used to dream.
None of them speak.
They just rearrange
the brushes on the table
and wait for me to notice
what I left undone.
The Virgin of Guadalupe
smiles at their shenanigans—
a parrot on her shoulder now,
the manikin offering
a rainbow shoelace,
like a ribbon of penance.
Her mandorla ripples—
not with judgment
but something warmer,
forgiveness braided with laughter.
She doesn’t speak,
but the shoelace glows
in her open hands.
Then the toucan sneezes
and vanishes in glitter.
The girl curtsies to the Virgin.
The horse’s head rolls
against the leg of my easel,
and comes to rest
facing me.
I still don’t know
what any of it means—
only that I’m reaching
for vermilion, maybe.
Categories:
vermilion, fantasy, humor, mystery, surreal,
Form: Free verse
An epiphany dawned on us today,
refining further our void-centric view,
to anoint love on all forms every day,
that soul’s innate vibrancy may renew,
with love always claiming the right of way,
aura glistening like fresh morning dew.
Love soaked vermilion, in joy we implant
on all who we meet, to straighten soul’s slant.
Categories:
vermilion, love, spiritual, wisdom,
Form: Ottava rima
Scarlet-orange sun rose brightly,
As the cerise stars shine nightly.
Honey sunshine caressed flowers-
A gold thrall twixt silver showers;
And ruffled, plum breeze came lightly.
Categories:
vermilion, beauty, color, day, flower,
Form: Quintilla
His coat has many colours,
Joseph is his name;
Although some call him 'Joey'
It's Joseph just the same.
The collar on his cloak
Is such a vibrant red;
From his shoulders to his pointy chin
It goes right to his head.
The nether of this robe
Has hues of greens and blues
From his chubby, rounded waist
To his rugged grey-black shoes.
His sleeves are speckled yellow,
A dazzling golden shade;
And silver sprays within the fold -
Delightful how they're made.
Bright scarlet and vermilion
Make threads of colourous joy;
For Joey is a parrot
And 'e's a pretty boy.
Categories:
vermilion, color, humor,
Form: Light Verse
source of sustenance
vermilion firecracker plant
hungry hummingbirds
8/23/2020
Tania Kitchin’s Color with Alliteration
Checked by howmanysyllables.com
Categories:
vermilion, flower,
Form: Haiku
'twas a deep vermilion
sky tonight, as if her heart bleeds
an angry dark blue, shooting through
stunning, menacing too
moons tranquility stills the night
Written 15th May 2019
SECOND PLACE
Contest Writing Challenge 2, May 2019, Lind68868 Poetry Contest
Sponsor Dear Heart
a comparative thought
Syllables Per Line: 6 8 8 6 8
Contest May Premier 8 - any 4 or 5 line form on any theme
Sponsor Brian Strand
Contest BITE SIZE POEM NO 4
Sponsor Line Gauthier
Categories:
vermilion, moon, night, red, sky,
Form: Verse
Crimson, cerise, scarlet, and vermilion leaves
die as Summer grieves.
Without pity, brisk breezes denude the trees,
voiding guarantees.
Nature savors the essence of Fall's decay;
a mushroom gourmet.
Mother Earth prepares to spin Winter’s death shroud,
no tears are allowed.
Crimson, cerise, scarlet, and vermilion leaves
disappear like thieves,
and Autumn aggrieves.
Categories:
vermilion, 10th grade, autumn, beautiful,
Form: Rhyme
There is a palette, rare, that Autumn holds
Brights shades of amber, sepias and golds
The forest canopies - once emerald green
Now set ablaze with burnished tangerine
The foliage drifts, butterscotch and brown
Soft pastel-hued confetti, spinning down
So crisp, the air and leaves of scarlet red
As Mother Nature tucks the woods in bed
And when the months are waxing on to ten ...
This bold vermillion dance ... will start again
October 16, 2018
Categories:
vermilion, appreciation, autumn, beauty, color,
Form: Couplet
Apartment perched in a ghetto menagerie of hateful mockingbirds
Safety code bribery has uncaged my anger recluse,
which now morally infuse me with pellucid fearlessness
Seeing street labor children sniffing nerve-numbing plastic bag criminality
Ill frangipani odor of middle bun dope runner hands,
concocting poisonous fumes of meth and crack that twilight ripples
from the upper floor inside an un-sanitized laboratory kitchen
Glam luscious not is this poverty ancestral view —
funeral parading cars of junkie tricks and police prostitutes
And my rose heart wilts on the window sill in a vase vermilion repose
Contest: Ten Words, Ten Lines Challenge
Sponsor: Silent One
Date Submitted: 1-10-18
Categories:
vermilion, anger, corruption, drug, truth,
Form: Free verse
Vermilion sunset
Menagerie of animals roam foggy mountain side
Unaware of vermilion sunset painting ocean tide
Reflecting on aqua-blue where reddish hues infuse
As twilight flickers on ripples that leisurely cruise.
Ancestral dance-music echoes from the distant hills
As mockingbirds mimic birdsongs from the foothills,
While villagers frolic happily sipping luscious wine
Enchanted amidst frangipani scent, feeling divine.
As sun takes one last breath of drowning daylight
Pellucid waters shine bright courting glorious sight.
January 8, 2018
Placed 1st: Ten words, ten lines
Sponsor: Silent One
Placed 3rd: Strand Poetry Pick 1 Contest by Brian Strand
Categories:
vermilion, nature, sunset,
Form: Rhyme
I received the mail,
written with cracks on a crisp
vermilion leaf. Dropped
in by the cool morning breeze.
News of autumn's arrival.
Date : 10/07/2016
Categories:
vermilion, autumn, nature,
Form: Tanka
Vermilion
Blood red
Symbolizing the dead
Shed by the weak,
Murdered!
Categories:
vermilion, death, life, loss, sad,
Form: Cinquain
Fusing closed
Secrete yourself away
In vermilion blossoms
Inside hushed anguish
Coiling up
In a fetal comfort
Beyond everything
Denying breath
Slowly fading
Within the confines
Of a blood red rose
Categories:
vermilion, angst, imagination, life, mystery,
Form: Free verse