Once it was the Colour of Dreaming

Once it was the colour of dreaming
that filled the sky with countless stars;
while other girls spent their youth in bars
I would watch the cosmos streaming.
Submersed in the soft light of the moon,
exploring her face, its perfections and its scars,
I whistled along with owl and nightingale.
Oblivious to time, the morning came too soon
and the colour of night became the colours of day.
Although I begged the moon and stars to stay,
their beaming and sparkling began to fail
and I put my dreams away for the time being,
got dressed and went downstairs.

Kim M. Russell, 3rd October 2023

Image by Leio McLaren on Unsplash

After a week away visiting daughter and grandsons, and then my sister on the Isle of Wight, I got ill and returned home to a positive Covid test. I’ve recovered enough to host this week’s Poetics at the dVerse Poets Pub, where I have challenged poets to choose one of three poems by dead poets and respond to ONE of them.

I chose to respond to a poem by my favourite Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas, entitled ‘Once It Was the Colour of Saying’.

47 thoughts on “Once it was the Colour of Dreaming”

  3. What a lovely dream. This is the surreal part of this poem:
    I whistled along with owl and nightingale.
    Oblivious to time, the morning came too soon
    and the colour of night became the colours of day.

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  4. This is absolutely stunning, Kim! 😍 I can feel the poet’s longing.. the surrealism that goes in hand with the realities of the world and oh ‘colour of dreaming,’ and the way you give new meaning to the idea .. is to die for! Thank you so much for the wonderful poem and prompt ❤️❤️

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  7. … the different roads this poem took us, Kim. I am amazed at what you have done here. This feels so serene, so calming. I enjoy you playing with light & its absense, whistling with owls & nightingales… and, in the end, greeting the light the light of day by putting your dreasm on hold. A most wonderful take on the prompt, Kim.

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  10. As inspiration, what a lovely response to Thomas’ poem. The passage from innocence to maturity captures his essential theme of going “downstairs.”

    Great prompt. Hope you feel better soon, Kim. 💐

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  12. You had me at ‘Once it was the colour of dreaming
    that filled the sky with countless stars;’. Bravo!
    Thanks for the prompt Kim and I hope you will be well soon!

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  14. Yours is a great poem and a worthy response to Dylan’s poem which reminds me in several lines of his Under Milkwood (which I listen to in it’s entirety at least once a year…)

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    1. Thank you so much Andrew. My copy of Under Milk Wood is the old one, which is my pride and joy. I taught it for GCSE to a wonderful group of students who recorded their own version for me.

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  16. Luv your resolve to get dressed and go downstairs for time waits on no one and yes when daylight comes we have to wake from sleep.
    Sorry to hear you got Covid. Stay Safe.
    Thanks for getying out and about to prompt us.

    (I understood the prompt after you visited my blog and got to writing another poem which fitted the prompt)

    Much💛love

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