Featured Poem: The Joy of Color

By Bette Lafferty
Temple Terrace Branch, Tampa, Florida

 

Growing older has not diminished the joy

I feel when viewing a new box of crayons, or

the paint samples at the hardware store or

stacks of colored paper at Office Depot.

 

 

My eyes may be dimming, but

fireworks in all their glory light the fire

within me. The brilliance of Christmas decorations

stirs the child I embrace, stimulating joy

beyond description.

 

 

I may not understand the process of refraction that

creates the rainbow, but

the arch of colors dazzles my eye

and excites my spirit,

like lightning bolts riding through the sky

that shower me with the brilliance

of white diamonds, sparkling waterfalls and

ice sculptures

all wrapped together into one.

 

 

A crisp North Carolina blue sky

delights my soul while

the skeins of yarn filling the shelves at the craft shop

stimulate my imagination.

 

 

I dance to the color of music

that only my mind can see

and thank the glass blowers for their fabulous

colorful creations molded by blazing fire.

Most importantly, I am overjoyed that the Lord decided to paint

our world with color.

 

 

10 comments

  1. Lois Batchelor Howard says:

    Bette, your poem is delightful. You write like the new word I just learned. Grandiloquence! I taught school years ago in a very poor neighborhood in the 50’s in San Francisco. One Thanksgiving I asked the children, second grade, to say what they were most thankful for. Without a pause, Freddie said, “Color! All of the colors all around us!” I was so touched. Thank you for taking me back to this long ago favored moment. Color is beauty, yes! Thank you again and again.

  2. Brenda Lee Layman says:

    What a joy-filled poem! I especially like the way images of light, color, and movement are combined in the third stanza. Thanks for sharing!

  3. Brenda Layman says:

    Bette, what a joy-filled poem! I especially like the way you combine imagery of light, color, and movement in the third stanza. Thank you for sharing.

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