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| Prompt from Magpie Tales |
Painted Memories
On the 'to do list' cleaning up,
especially that old mess of painting things.
Dried up rollers, crusted brushes, empty cans,
colors layered upon each other, dried hard.
Reaching for the box I find them calling to me.
Pulling me back to them, reaching back to stories.
Painted memories. The blue from a boy's room.
His first color choice to make it his own 'big boy' room.
The green from our bedroom, willow leaf green.
Perfectly calm, and feeding the passion in us.
Ranchwood, a warm brown grey like driftwood,
paired with cedar when you made the bathroom a spa.
Arroyo red, rich and vibrant, pulling us together in blood,
The color of brick, blood, and of together fighting to love.
Cafe capp, lightest coffee colored just for me the java girl.
Strong coffee with lots of cream, and sugar too.f
The colors of our first home together, as a family.
The dried paints on those rollers and brushes are memories.
Me doing trim with no tape, mistress of the fine brush.
You, zooming and slopping with the rollers. Messy man!
Wiping up paint spots, hand prints on t-shirts, laughing aloud.
Looking back we see each painted wall as much more.
They hold the memories of love, borderline hate, passion and fears.
Baby cries and wet dog splats, calves leaning on them wet.
Each wall holds a part of us, painted in and painted over.
Fresh coats to brighten the scarred spots, scratches and dings.
A truck crash here from the hotwheels race gone awry.
Scratches here from a poorly thrown frisbee on a rainy day.
Here a stain from being 'painted' with sunscreen in baby hands.
There oily frame, shaped like your back strong and leaning hard.
I carefully put the box of dried up rollers and crusted brushes back.
They'll be the last things I take when we move from here.
This, our first home as a family, painted in memories.
This, our unexpected blessing of life, love and laughter.
You'll ask if I cleaned up that box, and I'll laugh.
I'll say, "No" and you'll sigh, "Why?" and we'll make more...memories.
Copyright 2011 Shanyn Silinski
21 comments:
Your poem has tugged at my heart strings!
Thank you Helen for your comment, and for stopping by.
Nicely done. Made me picture those days when I painted the kids' rooms. There are so many memories in painting.
Blessings,
Mel
Please feel free to stop by: Trailing After God
Mel, as always, your comment brings a smile and is so wonderful to see. Thanks for coming by!
smiles. this touches on lots of memories to fun times painting with the family and others...really a lovely verse...
Oh That is really precious - color does really provoke memory.
What a tender, full-hearted and lovely poem, Shanyn. One for your first book, surely! Beautiful, rich details-- visual, emotional, the emotion driven largely by imagery. xxxj
Brian - so glad you left with some smiles and memories touched upon. That is really great, thank you for coming by and leaving some love.
Kristen - thank you for coming by, and yes color does that, doesn't it?
Jenne - Thanks for the encouragement, and yes I think it is for sure a keeper!
Colourful (and heartwarming) trip through life.
Beautiful poem. I like the details and it's very creative. This is my favorite line:
Each wall holds a part of us, painted in and painted over.
It sounds so poetic! Great diction.
I love this! This really made me smile.
Lena - thank you for coming by and for your comment.
Ashley - :-) Thank you for your sharing your thoughts and for stopping by.
Mama Zen - I'm so pleased it brought a smile to you! Thanks for coming over.
..your poem is a pleasure to read and evokes many memories i had from the past.. i enjoyed the read and glad i stopped-by to taste a bit of what you've baked here!(:
Brightest blessings!
~Kelvin
..your poem is a pleasure to read and evokes many memories i had from the past.. i enjoyed the read and glad i stopped-by to taste a bit of what you've baked here!(:
Brightest blessings!
~Kelvin
Kelvin - come by the kitchen anytime! So glad you stopped by and found some smiles here. Bright blessings!
Heartfelt poem and creative use of the prompt...
We always leave a lot of memories when we move to a new place or when we are renovating a place...certain paint marks remind us of some memories of the past...:)
Erratic Thoughts - thanks for coming by, and leaving your comment. I find the layers of paint (and wall paper) that you find in old houses to be storybooks that are waiting to be told!
I don't read poetry often, but I couldn't take my eyes off of yours. Wonderful memories!
Jackie - What a compliment! Thank you for sharing it, and thank you for coming by. Hope to see you again.
powerful poetry.
keep it up.
check us out, share random poems or write for the theme.
Thank you Gooseberry Garden - your words are so encouraging! :-) I'll go and check out your blog...
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Thanks for stopping by and leaving me some of your words...bright blessings!