Patience

Colorful

At first you sense a peaceful, cooler green
Than jealousy can fake within its eyes,
And then a calmer red with no disguise
That anger has to wear when it is seen.
When blue becomes delightful, sparkling bright,
Beyond what reason’s ramblings can achieve,
Then violet turns away from time and leaves
You knowing there’s no need to fear the night.

Linked to dVerse Poetics hosted by Michelle (Mish) with prompt: “Write a poem about something abstract using one or more senses”.
Photo: “Colorful” by the author. The photo was taken at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Author: Frank Hubeny

I enjoy walking, poetry and short prose as well as taking pictures with my phone.

93 thoughts on “Patience”

  7. I love this one, Frank. Beautifully crafted. I think if you put a comma after ‘eyes’ it might be easier to read aloud though. Also, at least the way I pronounce it, ‘violet’ seems to mess with the iambic pentameter, which is a shame because the last line is terrific.

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    1. I respectfully disagree with both these suggestions. It works for me as is – even though (or because?) I am reading in an Australian accent!

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      1. We must pronounce “violet” the same way. The meter works fine for me as well, however, Ronnie’s suggestion got me thinking that I should have used purple because the color is brighter (based on examples I looked up) and it might fit the idea of “patience” better. I plan to use this poem later and I will make use of these comments for potential revisions at that time. Thanks, Rosemary!

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    2. I added the comma after “eyes”. If it helps with the reading it is worth having it there. I pronounce violet with two syllables, sort of like VIO-let, but I can see how if you use three syllables, VI-o-LET, it would mess up the iambic meter. If I use this again, I will try to work around that problem and maybe use “purple” which seems to be a brighter color and may be more appropriate. Thanks!

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      1. Yes, purple would work well in various ways. We say ‘violet’ when describing a rainbow, so you would lose some immediacy from that association – but you have not included all the colours, so the rainbow is only suggested anyway.

        And yes, it’s fine with that extra comma included. 🙂

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  13. I love the way you have presented patience growing in a process of colours, a beautiful spectrum . I also think it is nice to see red as a calmer colour.

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  16. You knowing there’s no
    need to fear the night

    Exactly! Darkness will bring a lot of colors into play but all in the mind. No reason to get all worked up. You have an eye for a great angle in your pic, Frank!

    Hank

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    1. These colors do seem to have a temperament. I was thinking, based on other comments, that patience may be a combination of them like a white light one splits up with a prism into different colors. Thanks, Walter!

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  18. I love a photo prompt–so many words (at least a 10000 erupt & are teased no a page. I like the suggestion that metaphorically chakra & aura come into play. Thanks for visiting my FB photography site. Show more of your images; drop by often; smile.

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    1. Thanks for showing me that page. I do have some minimalist photos that people there might enjoy. I didn’t think of them as “minimalist” before seeing your FB page. I’ll add some more and see if people find them interesting.
      Thanks, Glenn!

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    1. I realized when writing this that some colors I associate with rather negative emotions like red or green, but there must be a better way to look at them since they are beautiful colors. Thanks, Rosemary!

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    1. The first draft comes easily, but the revision takes time because I usually don’t like the first draft. It sounds either forced or boring or meaningless, like something I wouldn’t want to read myself tomorrow. Eventually, it gets done, but a year from now may need another revision. Thanks, Sarah!

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      1. I like that, Frank! I can see patience as that. Sorry this is so late in answering but I finally got some time. I found some poets in my area to meet with and talk poetry. I just started but it’s wonderful. Can’t wait to go again.

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    1. Good point. I suspect these colors are like an aura, or if you saw the animated movie, Trolls, and you probably have if you have children or grandchildren, it would be letting your true colors show.

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    1. Adding yellow and orange would include all seven of the colors associated with main chakras and fill out the rainbow better. Orange is associated with creativity and yellow with intellect. The idea would be that patience has all of these colors the way light has all the colors. Then I would try to suggest that “patience” is another word for “love”. Something like that.

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