The red plaid pants

12/12/201225/05/2019 ~ poolsidelaureate ~ 1 Comment

Treasures. This city’s sidewalks are full of treasures. He was impossible to ignore as I walked past him this morning. Barcelona has a silent dress code that makes anyone who transgresses it suspicious.

The gentleman in red plaid pants

The gentleman in red plaid pants stands waiting at the light. I wonder if he's dressed for day, or if those are from last night? A younger man approaches him, and whispers in his ear. Hand in hand, they walk away. I watch them disappear. Too soon to draw conclusions, unless you factor in the fact his absence is so short, and it happens all again.

Change of season

07/12/201225/05/2019 ~ poolsidelaureate ~ 1 Comment

Two striking things happened in Barcelona last week: it rained, and then it got cold. We’re talking hats, scarves, gloves, and boots. So it’s kind of ironic that I wrote this poem last week, inspired by a house I passed on my walk home from work.

Bougainvillea on a whitewashed wall

Bougainvillea on a whitewashed wall, hibiscus in November. It doesn't really look like fall, at least not like I remember.

Where I come from, it used to rain, cold wind would rake the sky. One day you'd take a look outside, and trees had turned to fire.

Such beauty there, such beauty here, I try to love it all. Eternal summer has its charm, but I really miss the fall.

A love affair with color

04/08/201225/05/2019 ~ poolsidelaureate ~ 1 Comment

Whether it’s a watercolor or an iPad drawing, I find I can’t play favorites. No matter what I’m drawing I need ALL the colors.

A love affair with color

A love affair with color
will never leave you sad.
I’ve been with pink, I’ve been with green,
so many hues I’ve had!

Have an orgy mixing shades
but watch out for the grue.
That’s where some cultures see a green
where you and I see blue.

For logic is a butterfly,
a fuzzy one at that.
And all the options multiply,
the closer that you get.

A simple crystal bending light
will make a rainbow grow.
Don’t waste your life in black and white
if you would pleasure know!

_____________
Anyone curious about the word ‘grue’, see the works of Nelson Goodman, especially the “new riddle of induction”.
and my best regards to W.B. Yeats and the Isla Vista underpass.