Monday Poetry Stretch - Colorful Poetry

In reviewing poetry books over the last week I read through a number of books focused on color. One, Hailstones and Halibut Bones, was first published in 1961. It was updated in 1989 with gorgeous new illustrations. This was the first poetry book I remember reading over and over. I loved it so much that I chose one of the poems to read aloud in the third grade when we invited our parents to come hear us perform. That poem, What Is Gray?, begins this way.

Gray is the color of an elephant
And a mouse
And a falling-apart house.
It's fog and smog,
Fine print and lint,
It's a hush and
The bubbling of oatmeal mush.
Tiredness and oysters
Both are gray,
Smoke swirls
And grandmother curls.

All the poems in this volume are titled What is __? (Fill in the blank with a color.)

I thought it might be fun to write color poems in this spirit this week. Pick a color and title your poem What is __? It's spring, so are you thinking green? It's raining here, so I could easily pick gray, but the azaleas are in full bloom, so I could also pick pink, red or white.

Will you join me in writing a color poem? Leave me a comment about your poem and I'll post them all here later this week.