The Elusiveness of Purple

It’s in the bloom on the skin
of a plump plum poised to plop,
the fruity sweetness of the drop
of a blackberry’s inky stain,
the smear of jam on a child’s face,
and the smudge in the space
between the rich red of sunset
and the indigo of night.

When the scent of plum has faded
and the world has gone to bed,
purple opulence is crushed
between urgent fingers
and the bruise of a passionate kiss
lingers briefly on lovers’ lips.

Kim M. Russell, 23rd September 2018

Image result for purple plum
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This weekend I am hosting the Mini Challenge in the Imaginary Garden with the poetic toads and we are creating a rainbow of sonnets. Also linked to Poets United Poetry Pantry.

I based the prompt on a sonnet by a British poet, Sylvia Townsend Warner, entitled ‘To no believable blue I turn my eyes’, which struck me because of its exploration of the colour blue in the first stanza and the emotions expressed in the shorter second stanza.

We are writing new sonnets based on colours of our choice in two stanzas: in the first, we’re exploring the colour and in the second, expressing emotion(s) awakened by the colour.    

56 thoughts on “The Elusiveness of Purple”

  1. Wowww! ❤️ This is beyond beautiful, Kim 😍 I love how you describe the color as “between the rich red of sunset and the indigo of night” it works so well to emphasize the fire and passion near the end! ❤️

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  6. I love the contrast between the two last stanzas… still keeping the purple in the lover’s kiss, a volta in the last six lines rather than in the last two… yes both works well in a sonnet.

    The sounds of the first three lines is excellent.

    It’s in the bloom on the skin
    of a plump plum poised to plop,
    the fruity sweetness of the drop

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  10. Ah, I love the vibrancy and familiarity of color in the first stanza followed by the vivacious emotions of the second one. The purple of jam, of the edge of sunset, of a bruising kiss, all correspond to such evocative images. Loved the alliteration and playfulness of “of a plump plum poised to plop”, and also the thought of “purple opulence is crushed between urgent fingers”.
    Such beautiful penmanship. ❤

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  11. + 1 on this delicious sonnet. Great evocations. The last stanza has a feeling of lovers rushing to/at each other – and the ambiguity in the ‘bruise’ – of that final kiss – telling us something more about the colour (and love).

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  12. I like how you go from the alliteration of the plum pop to the purple bruise of love in the second stanza. I am sorry Kim. Somehow I totally missed that you wanted two stanzas but I also feel that how the colors affect me are said in the only stanza. LOL, I don’t care for difficult forms although you did a beautiful job on yours. Somehow I think you are a natural sonnet/rhymer.

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    1. Thank you, lovely Toni! No need to be sorry about writing your sonnet in one stanza – your is beautiful and expresses both colour and emotion clearly and in your special way.

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  13. Pingback: The Elusiveness of Purple — writing in north norfolk #Poems I Enjoy | My Haiku Musings

  22. I like the rhyme in your purple sonnet based on the given form. I used the same example but my theme was not colour., Nice prompt. I hope you are going to use form from time to time. Liked the sonnet challenge.

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  27. Oh Kim – absolutely word perfect and stunning!

    This *is* a right proper sonnet!

    And it’s gorgeous – not only because purple is such a beautiful colour, in all shades and hues, but the imagery you’ve pulled here is delicious, literally and figuratively. This is truly stunning. I’ve read this piece several times over the past few days, and I enjoy it each time. This has the body and perfume of the sweet tartness of plum, the elegance and regal aspects of high court, and the blessed bliss of love in both hungered and satisfying pleasure. 😀

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