Would you say the color’s pink?
It’s bordering on red.
It’s bordering on darker green.
A brighter green is also seen
Within this flower bed.
Perhaps it’s purple like the eyes
Of dragons when they stare
As border guards for gold held tight
So yellow rarely sees the light
Deep in their dark blue lair.
Linked to dVerse Poetics where Grace is hosting on the theme “borders”.
Photo: “Is There Any Pink In This Photo?” by the author taken at the Chicago Botanic Garden and linked to jasenphoto’s Tuesday Photo Challenge with the theme “pink”.
Glad to read about dragons again. 😊
To me, it’s more purple than pink. Clever use of the word ‘bordering’.
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I thought so about the color. I hope it passes for pink for the Tuesday Photo Prompt. I enjoy dragons. Thank you!
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Close enough to pink for the prompt. 😊
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Very creative use of prompt Frank. I think you covered all the bases there. Great picture too, kudos
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Thank you, Walter!
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😉
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Love to cross the borders to a dragon’s lair… definitely my choice.
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As long as I avoid the fire-breathing I would like to see what a dragon’s lair is like as well. Thanks, Björn!
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Do dragons have purple eyes?
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I have no clue! But I figured this species of dragon might, since those flowers look more purplish than pink. Thanks, Alison!
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“Perhaps it’s purple like the eyes
Of dragons when they stare”
Oh Frank – thank you for this lovely visual.
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Thank you, Toni! I’m glad you liked those purple eyes.
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I’m a sucker for purple anything…but dragon’s eyes…OMGoodness
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I liked this!
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Thank you!
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Beautiful flowers Frank and I love your bordering of the colours especially ☺
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It is sometimes hard for me to tell in which category a color fits, not that I’m color blind. They merge into one another so easily. Thank you, Xenia!
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This is a delightful flight of imagination
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Thank you! It is a fantasy, perhaps even a children’s poem.
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Wow–killer image that spurred your poetics; sometimes I think color perception can be personal & unique. The last episode of GAME OF THRONES had some great dragon scenes. CGI has given us some great dragons over the years.
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I’ve only seen a few episodes of Game of Thrones, but I can see how it keeps people’s interest. Thanks, Glenn!
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Great poem and imagery Frank. Pink, purple, red, can all be in the eye of the beholder anyway, and change in different light.
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I can’t keep them separate especially when I need “pink” for the photo prompt. Everything looks pinkish. Thanks, Peter!
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Wonderful pacing! I like the contrast between the end stopped lines at the beginning and the run-on lines in the second stanza. Excellent natural rhymes.
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Thank you, Ronnie! I try to make it sound natural just in case the message doesn’t work for a reader.
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Appreciate your care for words and insistence on quality.
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I loved hearing this read by you Frank….beautiful poetics indeed!!
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Thank you, Carrie! I like reciting and it is a way to test the poem to make sure it sounds right.
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I love how you take us from a flower bed, into the petals and then deep in a dragons lair. Wonderful and soothing escape.
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There was this dark spot near the center of the photo which reminded me of dragons for some reason. Thank you!
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Enjoyed your reading Frank ~ I think its pink but love all the colors in your poem ~ Love the photo and that imagery of dragon’s eyes ~
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I’m glad you think they are pink! Thank you, Grace!
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I enjoyed this ride through an imaginative rainbow of ideas.
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Thanks you! I didn’t want to leave too many colors out.
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I’m not keen on pink, but I like the spikey flowers in the photo and this colourful journey into the dragons’ lair 🙂
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Pink is not my favorite color either. That’s probably why I couldn’t find too many pink flower photos when I looked for something for the prompt. I like a dark background with colorful optimism overcoming it. Thank you!
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Now I don’t know what color it is! All I see are dragons, and they are enough of a border I don’t dare cross! Nice poem!
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You have to be careful with those dragons. I am glad you liked this, Mary!
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This is Wonderful.
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Thank you, Jael!
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Most welcome.
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Fun color poem
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Thank you, Sabio!
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imagination is wonderful – pink flowers & dragons. Gotta love the poetic mind 🙂
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I kind of wonder how I got from flowers to dragons. I think it was that dark spot near the center of the photo. Thanks, Margaret!
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Each line took my eyes back to the photo. I like how at first read I get surface colors but at the second read it’s so much deeper than that. Nice write.
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I was mainly looking at the photo as well realizing I needed to add the word “border” in for the dVerse prompt. Thanks, Lynn!
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This is interesting, Frank, and colourful – with dragons – and a dark undertone in the final lines:
‘As border guards for gold held tight
So yellow rarely sees the light
Deep in their dark blue lair’.
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I figured if I needed a political interpretation I could use the dragon border guards. Thanks, Kim!
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🙂
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Ah, dragons.. I am loving your theme, Frank.
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Dragons can be interesting and because we don’t run into many they are safe for the imagination–although metaphorically we probably do encounter dragons along the way. Thanks, Maria!
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I really interesting poem, Frank. Well done.
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Thank you, Robbie! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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Love the audio link – something wonderful about the voice behind the words.
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I was aiming to make the poem more personal by reciting it. When I hear someone reciting their work, I can almost see them speaking. Thanks, Jane!
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They do look like dragon eyes 😉 I like your consideration of the colours. The flowers are called purple coneflowers but I see more red tones, but I’m no colour expert. (Perhaps they would look more purple beside a red rose)
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Yes, I think they are called “purple coneflowers”. I was hoping for a little pink on the edges. The dragons’ eyes are wide open. Thanks, Janice!
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Ink BLot test LiFE
Nuance Deeper
Dragon
eYeS
coloRed FloWeRs
ARise Ocean whOle shalLows..:)
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There is a dark spot in the photo where I imagine the dragon’s lair to be. Thanks, Fred!
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Welcome..
Frank
Inspiring..:)
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This made me think of the idea that love and beauty can exist even beyond political borders, even as in the flower garden.
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The flower garden doesn’t have any political borders (except for the dragon’s border 🙂 ) although moving plants across them might be a problem. Thanks, Bryan!
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Love your fun with color here, Frank, especially the purple-eyed dragon. Made me smile!
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It sort of reminded me of the “purple people eater”, but this dragon only has purple eyes. Thanks, Sarah!
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Colourful contemplation via a lovely poetic form. The bordering on red and green calls to mind the invisible colour of red-green (not brown), which can’t be detected by the human eye where both red and green signals share the same cone cells. Could it have been a bit of red-green in that pink?
p.s. Gold, yellow, blue … now am I the only one thinking of that dress again?
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Good point. I suspect there are many colors we can’t see or distinguish as separate. I was thinking of the borders in the photo which is flat as the eye moves from red to green. After reading Lillian’s comment below I understand what you meant by that dress. I didn’t get that color right either. Thanks, Colin!
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I’ve been doing a bit of reading on the visual system. Fascinating stuff. How we re-assemble images from the nervous signals has a lot to do with our own wirings, whereas colour perception is quite possibly configured after our birth and not before. Hence, it’s almost quite certain that every one of us perceives colours differently in our brains — that is, my “blue” can be in fact your “red”, but we might never know.
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We can “rewire” some of this. However, I am not sure how much, but we would have to be motivated to even try. Color-blind individuals might provide subjects for experiments. I haven’t looked at how we experience colors, but these are my initial guesses.
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You’re right, Frank. That’s one of the paths undertaken. I read of an experiment where scientists injected virus into colour-blinded monkeys to give them the ability to see red and to investigate the new “wirings”…
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LOVE this! Am reminded of the “dress” viewing a while ago….folks looking at the photo saw it as either one of two colors…gold maybe? Can’t recall. But surely points out that the pereceptive skills are critical…
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I remember that. That was strange. I can’t remember which color I thought the dress was but it wasn’t the right color by one of my relative’s assessment. That did make me wonder what we see when we see things. In the photo I think the flower gets pinker as it moves away from the center, but I can see how some might see it as purple. Thanks, Lillian!
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Wonderful image and very creative way to use it in a poem. It does beg the question: which color is pink?
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I was hoping the flower had bits of pink in it at least on the edges of the petals, but there are many shades of pink. Thank you! I am glad you liked the image!
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That’s a lovely range of flower colours. I like that you kept the blues and yellows in there.
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I tried to have a lot of colors in the photo when I took it off-balancing them a bit. Thank you!
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I enjoyed LISTENING to you read this!
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I like reading poetry and stories out-loud. I also do it because I want to hear if the piece sounds to my ears the way I think it sounds mentally. Then I post it in case someone prefers to listen rather than read or if someone who is unfamiliar with English wants to hear how the words might sound. I may start doing an audio for all my posts for that last reason. Thank you! I am glad you liked the audio.
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That’s a great idea. I really like it!
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An ominous tone to this with dragon. I thought of the dragon from the movie Shrek, the one who falls in love with donkey. She was completely pinkish tones in colours 🙂
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I remember that dragon. That movie had a nice ending. Thank you, Amanda!
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You’re welcome. It did 🙂
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