Poem: "The Color and Scent of Relaxation"
May. 17th, 2023 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the May 16, 2023 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from ng_moonmoth carried over from radiantfracture. It also fills the "Pest" square in my 5-1-23 card for the Pets and Animals Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the series Quixotic Ideas.
"The Color and Scent of Relaxation"
[2022-2023]
Magelights were an affordable way
to light a road at night -- not the fancy kind
that actual mages left hovering overhead,
but the smaller kind that flitted around
inside a bulb like enchanted fireflies.
The city bought those flawed bulbs
that everyone was talking about,
the ones that turn purple as they age.
It was spring when they began
to wear out, snow already gone
and flowers pushing up in its place.
Slowly the magelights faded
from white through blue.
Soon they dyed the street
in a pale artificial violet.
This made navigation
a little more challenging,
but it certainly cut down on
pests swarming the lights,
so that was a bonus.
Because it was spring,
something happened to
the bulbs, as if the qui
had gone a bit peculiar.
The light stopped fading
and stayed as it was
throughout the year.
It was beautiful.
It made you smell
perfume in the cold air,
lilac and lavender, scents
of spring and late summer.
All winter, the snow was
not white but violet, sparkling
like drifts of amethyst dust.
The next spring, when
the crocus bloomed, they
shone with their own light.
Something peculiar had
happened to their bulbs too.
People watched the bees
flying to and fro, carrying
knee-baskets of pollen that
glowed like tiny golden suns.
The petals themselves gleamed
with the same pale purple of
the magelights above them.
For blocks around downtown,
the city had become enchanting.
People traveled from miles away
to stroll in the aubergine evenings
and browse the marvelous shops
and buy snacks from street vendors.
Young lovers stole kisses in hidden niches,
and old lovers remembered being young.
In all seasons of the year, the air
was filled with lilac and lavender --
the color and scent of relaxation,
youthfulness, creativity, optimism.
Nobody even suggested trying
to change the magelights.
They would last however
long they lasted, and people
would enjoy it while they could.
When something that quixotic
happened, you didn't argue with it.
You just appreciated it.
* * *
Notes:
Prompt byng_moonmoth:
This came fromradiantfracture, who was writing scenes from a winter snow in their city:
"The city bought those flawed bulbs everyone is talking about, the ones that turn purple as they age. They dyed the street a pale artificial violet. It was beautiful. It made you smell perfume in the cold air, lilac and lavender, scents of spring and late summer."
(used with permission)
"Lavender – the color and scent of relaxation, youthfulness, creativity, imagination, optimism."
-- Unknown
ng_moonmoth carried over from radiantfracture. It also fills the "Pest" square in my 5-1-23 card for the Pets and Animals Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by ng_moonmoth. It belongs to the series Quixotic Ideas."The Color and Scent of Relaxation"
[2022-2023]
Magelights were an affordable way
to light a road at night -- not the fancy kind
that actual mages left hovering overhead,
but the smaller kind that flitted around
inside a bulb like enchanted fireflies.
The city bought those flawed bulbs
that everyone was talking about,
the ones that turn purple as they age.
It was spring when they began
to wear out, snow already gone
and flowers pushing up in its place.
Slowly the magelights faded
from white through blue.
Soon they dyed the street
in a pale artificial violet.
This made navigation
a little more challenging,
but it certainly cut down on
pests swarming the lights,
so that was a bonus.
Because it was spring,
something happened to
the bulbs, as if the qui
had gone a bit peculiar.
The light stopped fading
and stayed as it was
throughout the year.
It was beautiful.
It made you smell
perfume in the cold air,
lilac and lavender, scents
of spring and late summer.
All winter, the snow was
not white but violet, sparkling
like drifts of amethyst dust.
The next spring, when
the crocus bloomed, they
shone with their own light.
Something peculiar had
happened to their bulbs too.
People watched the bees
flying to and fro, carrying
knee-baskets of pollen that
glowed like tiny golden suns.
The petals themselves gleamed
with the same pale purple of
the magelights above them.
For blocks around downtown,
the city had become enchanting.
People traveled from miles away
to stroll in the aubergine evenings
and browse the marvelous shops
and buy snacks from street vendors.
Young lovers stole kisses in hidden niches,
and old lovers remembered being young.
In all seasons of the year, the air
was filled with lilac and lavender --
the color and scent of relaxation,
youthfulness, creativity, optimism.
Nobody even suggested trying
to change the magelights.
They would last however
long they lasted, and people
would enjoy it while they could.
When something that quixotic
happened, you didn't argue with it.
You just appreciated it.
* * *
Notes:
Prompt by
ng_moonmoth:This came from
radiantfracture, who was writing scenes from a winter snow in their city:"The city bought those flawed bulbs everyone is talking about, the ones that turn purple as they age. They dyed the street a pale artificial violet. It was beautiful. It made you smell perfume in the cold air, lilac and lavender, scents of spring and late summer."
(used with permission)
"Lavender – the color and scent of relaxation, youthfulness, creativity, imagination, optimism."
-- Unknown
Re: Well ...
Date: 2023-05-19 12:55 am (UTC)