Magenta Sun

Once upon a time there was a little girl
whose favorite color was magenta.
Of all the crayons in her Big Box,
magenta was the most wondrous.
She colored the whole world magenta, this girl
Magic magenta people
Magenta trees
Magenta sun


Until one day, when she had grown big and strong
and wasn't a little girl anymore,
the world turned red.
Candy-apple red, the red of sports cars
and funky hats.
Red was the most wondrous of colors.
Strong and vibrant 
The color of pure conviction
The color of a dare 
The color of wildfires and will.

Her world was red, true Indian Paint Brush red,
for so long that at first she didn't notice
that her red was slowly being tinged 
with black, with purple, with dark.
The next time she looked, the red world was no longer the color of candy apples and sports cars
But the red of garnets, of blood, of wine
the red of being-all-grown-up.
Now she breathed the red of child birth and pain and regret
She walked the red of deep, real love 
The red of contradiction and betrayal
And the messy red of acceptance-- 
The deep, primal red of life.

She looked around, this blood-red woman,
this lady of deep crimson and poisoned apples
this woman of redemption,
and saw a little magenta girl
standing
right
behind her.
The red lady walked back a pace
knelt down a little
and smiled
the magenta girl took the lady's all-grown-up hand,
tinting it a bit with her own magical hue
and the two of them began to walk
into the magenta sun.


So now I have to know.  What's your favorite color(s)?  And what does it mean to you?

In My Virtual Travels

I have been in awe of the creative beauty I've come across lately.  There seems to be a sort of hush over us all, something contemplative and reverent.  There also seems to be a lot of pain, the unavoidable kind that comes with transitions that you didn't ask for.  I want to share with you what I've found... what I've been so moved by that telling you about it just won't do.  You have to see for yourself. 

Milkmoon - a blog that was listed as a "Blog of Note" that has charmed me many times over.  This post, "Upon Seeing a Dear Friend" put tears in my eyes.

http://milk-moon.blogspot.com/2010/01/upon-seeing-dear-friend.html

Neil Gaiman's Journal - Mr. Gaiman shares the passing of his feline friend, Zoe.  I've put a link to his whole Journal, rather than one post, because this is a story told over several posts.  The most recent post isn't about Zoe exactly, but the last 3 or 4 were.  I haven't had the courage to read them all.  It's too sad.  And so painfully, beautifully written (what I've had the guts to read, that is). 

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/

It's Creative Writing - one of my hands down favorite blogs.  Molly has two blogs and I love them both.  But this poem stopped my breath.  It's been running around in my head for two days now, seeming to fit so many people and so many situations that it seems to have been written for now.

http://crappystoriesforthesoul.blogspot.com/2010/01/on-empty-street-i-run.html

The Hermitage - another I found as a "Blog of Note" around the same time I found Milkmoon.  I am in love with the whimsy and wandering spirit of Rima.  This post indicates she is going through a hard and lonely transition.  And though I don't know her at all, I wish her all the best.  When the words come out this true, it's hard not to feel a kinship.

http://intothehermitage.blogspot.com/2010/01/melted-snow.html