Yellow Poems
Here’s what inspired my first letter-poem to Karen:
Decadence
In Geneva, post boxes are yellow
colour of decadence, of the book
that stirs young Dorian Gray
to taste forbidden dreams.
Yellow as Van Gogh’s chair
as flowers that follow sun
or look too long. While others
click and send, I lick and bend
white triangle lids, stick secrets
under stamps, conceal guilt with ink
and hand-scrawl love.
What text contains a wet stain
of regret or drop of rain?
Instant messaging can’t hold
the weight of the unsaid.
I write and revel in the faded;
bananas at the point turning,
old tobaccoed hands.
At the yellow box, I squeeze my letter
once for luck, then let it drop.
I hope it reaches her this week.
My cheeks glow secret suns
as I imagine hands, the sharp edge
of a butter knife, slitting open.
Fingers touching paper, touching
my fingers where I have touched.
I’ve played with the line-breaks a bit, but it still looks very messy - my early drafts usually do. I’ll be posting subsequent drafts here - perhaps with some help from Karen. The envelope I sent contained only the poem and some yellow pencil shavings. Karen responded with her own letter-poem:
Karen may post her own version too, as I don’t have a scanner.
I’ll end with a picture for Karen:
More to follow…x
Tags: Karen and Miriam correspond, Karen McCarthy, Letter Poem, Letters, Miriam Nash, Post Box, Swan, Yellow