Craving Blue


 I was shopping yesterday and saw a lot of pastel polka dots of color, Velvet stuffed bunnies, chocolate eggs and daffodil. These all made me smile, yet I found myself leaning towards the nautical display.  This one turquoise vase spoke to me.  It replicated the milk frosted look of sea glass. I wanted it, but I didn't like the sticker shock, and placed it back on the shelf.  I don't think it was so much the vase I wanted, but the seashore.  I miss the salty sea air, the gulls soaring and the sunlight patting my head.  I love a  gusty kite breeze and the magic of the sun winking on the glistening shore.  I love how the light plays and shadows inspire memories.  The shore and blueberries remind me of home.  After all, I am from the blueberry state.  My days were spent at the shore. The shore and blueberries are big parts of my childhood.  I ate blueberries every week and visited my shore every day. My brother and I would pick enough berries in the summer, so we could eat berries year round.  Blue skies, the sea, and the taste of blue, all comfort n' transport me.

Margaret's daughter, Chelsea inspired us to write a poem about the African Mythological Goddess, Yemaya Oshun.   Grace asked us to write a poem using cooking terms, a Poets in the Kitchen prompt, with 14 lines.   I decided to blur the lines and attempt their challenges as one.

1)   Oshun was an African Mythological Queen of great beauty, sweetness, and lively nature and daughter to Yemaya, the goddess of all waters.

2)  Yemaya Oshun is one persona depicting all described.

3)  Oshun is Mother of the African sweet or fresh waters and her mother, Yemaya, is mother of the salt waters.






  Mouth watering blue melts
its silken scarf billows along life's rambled trails
salting earth in brackish pooling thoughts
soft and tender meringue peaks
as gulls' shrill laughter rings
  black-blue hearts cracked and opened
hinged memories flood me
I see blue threads cascade
sweet whispers scent the air
I surrender to the Blue Danube it dances n' drapes
measured mood in blue notes
I stir Saffron sun's noodles
into dark blue brine
mysteries ladled inland.


© Ellen Wilson








Comments

Beautiful, Ella! I think you just took yourself to the beach.
Ella said…
Alex-you slick ninja! How did you do this?! I think I'm going to give you a new nickname Stealthy Spy ;D lol Thank you~ You rock Captain!
Mark Means said…
Very nice Ella...it really conjured up a lot of imagery for me.

Well done :)
Ella said…
Hi Mark :D
I hope happy memories are attached~
Jennifer Wagner said…
This write is seriously good! And you made me think of my grandma...no one did meringue peaks like she did! Beautiful Ella.
Mixi said…
Ella, this was a tough challenge, combining two such very disparate themes, but you made it work to perfection.

The last three lines, in particular, made me want to fill a bowl with sun drop noodle soup and blue broth, picked right out of the sea at sunset.

Gobsmacked by the imagery of these verses!
Mary said…
Ella, I love how you combined both of these themes here. Your poem really has a mystical quality..beautiful. I especially love these lines:

I stir Saffron sun's noodles
into dark blue brine
mysteries ladled inland
Grace said…
I like the mouth watering concoction Ella ~ The colour blue is predominant here as well as saffron sun's noodles ~

Thanks for sharing your lovely work ~

Have a wonderful day ~
kaykuala said…
It's a perfect 2-in-1 Ella! It takes great effort to combine the two!

And I like everything blue. Was in New York having lunch years ago when someone suggested real blueberry for dessert. It's been blueberry cakes ever since whenever there is one available. This is the craving for missing the real thing! Nicely Ella!

Hank
L. Diane Wolfe said…
Beautiful! Blue is such a predominant color in the world.
Margaret said…
"its silken scarf billows along life's rambled trails
salting earth in brackish pooling thoughts
soft and tender meringue peaks"

The imagery and desire for place is certainly at its best here! Beautiful.

Can you please link to my challenge site so Chelsea can easily read them all in one place? Thanks! :)
Ellie Garratt said…
That made me a bit teary - you've captured not only your own childhood but mine. I'm fortunate enough to still be living just a five-minute walk from the ocean.

'I see blue threads cascade
sweet whispers scent the air'

Beautiful!
vivid and evocative lines marked by a wonderful ebb and flow.lovely read.its wonderful to see the different takes the picture has prompted.
Mary Ann Potter said…
Ellen, it's all so very blue and beautiful! A special kind of poem and a wonderful video!!! Very inspiring! I'm in my studio right now, and I'm getting ready to do COLOR!
Johanna Garth said…
Now I'm imagining slivers of saffron cut through a blue, blue sky :)
Sherry Blue Sky said…
So beautiful, Ellie, memories of the shore, of blueberries, of childhood.....when one has lived near the sea, one never stops missing it or hearing its call. Your poem dances like sunlight on the waves......you took me there.
Susan said…
I'm not sure whether it took more verbal dexterity to mingle all these challenges or to mingle meringue pie an ladled soup! But the result works, melting blueberry and sea and eating and satiation all together in this almost sonnet--as if a love song.
Anonymous said…
I loved your post and your poem. Beautiful descriptions! ~andy
Peggy said…
Nice imagery in this poem. It flows like the body paint! I see you have a new photo at the top of your blog but have not figured out yet what it is!
Kay L. Davies said…
Love this poem, Ella, and love the shells and beach glass in your header.
This line in particular spoke to me: "I miss the salty sea air, the gulls soaring and the sunlight patting my head."
I miss those things, too, every day.
K
Anonymous said…
Ella, I loved how you wove your favorite color, blue (cobalt blue glass is my only collectable) into a poem about cooking. Seeing as blue isn't a "foodie" color that often, it was fun to see it pop in there.

Note: Lex and I were at a seminar with gourmet cooking. Dessert was everything from choc. cheesecake to bonbons... but the best was fresh black raspberries dredged in pure cocoa powder. First, the bitter chocolate, then SQUISH! The sweet blue taste came out. Heaven.

Thx also for your kind words about me at Poets U. Peace, Amy
http://sharplittlepencil.com/2013/03/11/goosebumps/
Lolamouse said…
Where can I get a bowl of "saffron sun's noodles?" I'm craving it now! (and a belated Happy 17th to your daughter! Mine will be 17 on the 20th-unbelievable!)
Anonymous said…
Full of beautiful images!
Ella said…
Lolamouse-I know time flew didn't it?! I hope your girl has a wonderful Happy 17th!!! It is a gray drab day, here~ I am kinda craving some of those noodles, too :D

Amy-YOU are fun! I love your description-you remind me of a berry crips I made a chocolate crips topping-it was just as you described ;D I'll be by...Thank you!

Kay-Thank you! I think we all need a seashore time out, ;D I know a week near the waves would brighten my world, too!

Peggy-Thank you, I love that-paint! I hope you are still painting. It is some sea glass I put on a linen, near a window. I stuck in a piece of lavender. Sea lavender grows around my shore. I made do with what I had, lol ;D

Andy-Thank you so much :D

Susan-Your description is gorgeous!
I was all over, but the white caps on the waves-most definitely meringue, lol! ;D Thank you, so much~

Sherry-I know you know and yes, it is a longing that never goes away. I frequented the shore, every day.
I'm not home, till my feet hit the time worn wharf and water surrounds me ;D like a big hug. lol
I am glad you liked it :D

Johanna-lol, are your clouds cotton candy? It was fun to write :D Glad you are enjoying the sun~

Mary Ann-I wish I could see what you are creating! I love your art :D
Thank you, I hope you and COLOR had a grand time :D Thank you~

Nick Wilford said…
Beautiful. I can smell that salty air... your opening paragraph was quite poetic, too!
Ella said…
Hi Nick-Thank you! I sure do miss it~ I am making a plan to get there, soon! I think I might have to send that sweet girl a mustached hound! lol I have hives again-but maybe that would make her laugh, too. A polka dotted mustached gal?! Thanks for stopping by :D

McGuffy Ann-Thank you! I love the pic of your cat-so cute :D

Abin-Thank you! It was an unique challenge and fun to read all the amazing poems~ :D

Ellie-I guess we share similar nicknames and the love of the big blue ocean~ I am happy for you~
I'm going to make the time and go~
Thank you :D

Margaret-Thank you and thank Chelsea for sharing her art, with us! It was fun~ :D

L.Diane-Thank you! I hate that blue is the color we associate with sadness. I love both blue n' green and B&W photos ;D

Hank-Thank you and I loved what you shared! Now, I am hungry, lol
I totally understand ;D

Grace-Thank you for the fun challenge :D I thought about naming all the blues, but I like letting others see their own blue thoughts ;D

Mary-Thank you! Yes, I would love some mysterious ladled~ You are sweet~ :D

Mixi-If I ever create a bowl such of that, I will be sure to share the recipe! Thank you so much~ :D
I enjoyed your comment

Poet Laundry-My Mom was the queen of meringue, at my house. I can see her piling them on. Hers looked like graceful swans-not mine. lol I love grandmother memories :D Thank you~











Herotomost said…
There is something about that coast line that beckons me as well, and I did not grow up there. Be it ion exchange, or just the serenity or watching something so much larger that you, it really has a calming effect. that was a wonderful poem and I love that picture, I have seen it on a few posts now so it must be from a prompt. You really built nice lines around some description that is melt in your mouth delicious. Great work Ella, I always love your outlook.
Panchali said…
So very beautiful writing, Ella. How effortlessly your lines flowed.Very deftly handles themes.Kudos!!
Ella said…
Panchali-Hello, so nice of you to stop by :D Thank you so much~

Corey-Happy to see you! I will be by...I'm finding it hard to blur the lines of art, poetry and writing-but hanging in there!
Thank you so much! Margaret's daughter did this prompt over in the garden~ I miss you! I'll visit and see what you have been up too! I'm guessing your book ;D