Sunday, May 09, 2010

Poetry in Motion -

The Poetry Bus is rattling through Ireland this week, while I am feasting my eyes on the rolling hills of Devon.  Never mind - I'll get back to Devon shortly (That will be today's Blog Entry 2). First, I must catch that bus.  Padhraig Nolan (aka Scalder) is driving, so goodness knows where we'll end up.



(Lipstick production at Colgate-Palmolive, c. 1940s, by unknown photographer)

Oops. Sure enough, we took a wrong turn somewhere along the line, and ended up in New South Wales, where we were set loose to find the inspiration for this week's poems. I chose this photograph as my launching point.


What kind of life is this,
to spend the working day
mixing, pouring,
shaping,
imagining
poppy petal red,
shy shell pink,
sun-bright coral and
deep purple like
blueberries for breakfast,
saucy on the lips,
pouting for a technicolor kiss,
when all you can see
is this endless parade
of trays of tubes and trays of tubes
in inglorious black and white?

8 comments:

Padhraig Nolan said...

Nice one - thanks for riding the bus!

'What kind of life is this' indeed, that technicolor smiles can bloom from sepia, conflagrating to our world of high definition, gleaming teeth on all sides.

Unknown said...

Love the colors & the blueberries for breakfast!

The Bug said...

I had a summer job once where I stamped the state tax on cigarette packs (I lived in North Carolina - tobacco country). Basically I "assisted" the cartons through the stamp machine, & then applied glue & pressed them shut. Mind Numbing. Really. This picture & your poem remind me of those days - & of my determination to finish college & get a desk job. And here 25 years later I'm typing this comment from my desk at work :)

Batteson.Ind said...

I bet those girls were envied like mad! :-D
loved the little story, very nice :-)

Dr. Jeanne Iris said...

I wonder if they ever slipped some 'sticks in their pockets....
As John mentioned, the colors' names are great here!

Argent said...

Superb contrast between the brightly-coloured world of fantasy kisses and the everyday of the factory.

Titus said...

Brilliant opening and closing lines, and I'm with Argent, the colour/black-and-white contrast works on so many levels.
Great photo - I loved the variety this prompt threw up, the glimpses into other times and places.

Totalfeckineejit said...

Love the colour and 'the blueberries for breakfast, saucy on the lips'

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