I listen to her voice paint a light
and rainbow coloured folk song
about a child whose eyes were bright
but would never see, of crayons,
trees and love. The colours flow
through a Chelsea morning,
with crimson beads and yellow
curtains and a taxi, as if she’s singing
just for me. A little green fades to blue,
so many shades, from blue boy
to blue motel room, cold steel
and sweet fire. Her voice mellows,
chocolate smooth, a black crow
flies in a blue sky – we’re back to blue.
Kim M. Russell, 3rd December 2020
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Meeting the Bar: Synesthesia
Grace is our host this Thursday, reminding us of the previous writing challenge in which we concentrated on writing a poem using grapheme colour synesthesia. She also gives us a quick recap of what synethesia is.
Seeing music as colours is one form of synesthesia. Grace has shared links to two videos, the first an example of chromesthesia, a type of synesthesia in which a nonvisual stimulus causes the individual to perceive colour, and the second of Lorde, New Zealand singer and songwriter, who sees colour in her music.
Our challenge is to incorporate music in our poems from the perspective of a synesthete. We can create our own symphonies, infuse our musical experience when listening to a band, artist or musical genre, with colours, sounds and textures, write songs filled with colours.
Kim, you have done Joni’s music justice. This is positively lovely.
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Thank you so much, Linda. It could only be Joni for me.
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So much to love here, I love how you took me through so many songs, but still returning from the rainbows into blue…
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Thank you, Bjorn. 🙂
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I love that little visual switch of attention, the black crow in the blue sky. I found myself looking for it.
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🙂
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A voice like no other, and you’ve captured its essence here with your words, Kim. I can hear all the colours of Joni when reading this!
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Thanks so much, Ingrid.
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absolutely love Joni and you paint her colourful personality as much as her song, thanks Kim!
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Thank you, Kate, for your appreciation!
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most welcome Kim
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This is so lovely. ❤
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Thank you , Lucy!
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Wonderful, Kim. Joni knows her shades of blue very well. Great artist to choose to paint.
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Thank you, Lisa. The irony is that she’s an accomplished painter herself. I would love to own one of her self portraits.
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You’re welcome. You can see those self-portraits being auctioned off at some point for millions. I love her painting style.
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This is absolutely STUNNING, Kim! 💝 I love the many shades and connotations of blue in this poem especially; “from blue boy to blue motel room, cold steel and sweet fire. Her voice mellows, chocolate smooth, a black crow flies in a blue sky.” 🙂
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Thank you so much, Sanaa, I think I covered most of her earlier work, up to Hejira, and could have gone on, I love her so much, but I didn’t want to kill the vibe.
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Kim, not only was this a beautiful response to the prompt, but water thorough excursion of Joni’s music you’ve created here. Well written.
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Thank you, Rob. I could have gone on, but it would have spoilt the feeling.
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Beautiful lines, Kim!
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Thank you, Eugenia!
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Bluesy blues! I love how you weaved all the rainbow colors, back to blue. I specially swoon over these:
Her voice mellows,
chocolate smooth, a black crow
flies in a blue sky
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Thank you, Grace!
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Help me; I think I’m falling in love with this poem & the way it so successfully includes so many of Joni’s fine, fine works. You ROCK (in a JM kinda way), KR!
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Thank you so much, Ron. Once in love with Joni, always in love with Joni.
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I never get enough Joni. It’s incredible how you covered most of the songs in the album. Made me think of that “black crow swooping down to pick up something shiny”. Very clever piece, excellent response to the prompt. I almost chose Joni too, but went with ZZ Top.
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Thank you, Glenn. Coincidentally, I was listening to ZZ Top only a couple of days ago!
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I also chose a Joni Mitchell song. You aced it.
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Thank you, Mary. I was too tired to stat around last night, so I’m back this morning, ready to read and comment. I look forward to reading your poem.
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This is an amazing piece! Joni would be proud.
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Thank you , Eugenia. I hope she would, she is an amazing poet.
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Unforgettable sounds of a “chocolate smooth” voice, Kim!
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Thank you kindly, Lynn!
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A lovely journey through all the colors of Joni’s music, a beautiful collage!
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Thank you so much, Tricia!
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I love the idea of colors beyond what we can see… only seen through the eyes of children!
Nicely done!
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Thanks Dwight. I started with one of the songs Joni first performed in her folk period.
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Great music from the past! Very nice!
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Thanks Dwight!
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Always an excellent choice. (K)
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Indeed she is!
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Each reference to a song brought a snippet of that song into my head until it was all crashing together. A wonderful way to experience Joni. thank you.
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Thank you for the kind comment, Xan.
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Colorful words for a colorful artist. Well done.
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Thank you, Ken.
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LATE LATE to the reading….and I posted to it so late as well. Just catching up before I host prosery today.
You’ve captured Joni so very well here….most especially in these words I think
“cold steel
and sweet fire. Her voice mellows,
chocolate smooth, a black crow
flies in a blue sky – we’re back to blue.”
DEFINITELY!
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Thank you so much, Lill! I have adored Joni for fifty years, have all her albums, biographies and a book she had published for her friends one Christmas. All that’s missing is some of her art, although I do have a portrait of her that was done by an English artist.
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