Amy Alley is an award-winning artist located in Upstate South Carolina. She is also a writer (contributor to THUMP Magazine), poet, mother, educator, free spirit, and tree-hugging lover of nature who resides near the woods and stream. Her art is held in public and private collections nationally and abroad and her short stories and poetry have been published in various places (including SPARK). She has written a novel and been the featured artist for The Greenwood Music Festival. Her painting Joy is the cover art for Inspiration 2 Smile by Nate Spears. To see more of her work visit her web site.
Letter to Myself on December 3
By Amy Alley
The color red
is like this for you …
The tingle of winter
in the air.
I pull my scarf closer
around my neck.
In the tree,
a cardinal.
Male.
Red slashed across a gray day.
I knew you, then.
I see you, with your red scarf on,
standing with your back to the world.
A curious angle
which made it quite impossible
for anyone to ever stand beside you.
You’ve held that pose
for a mighty long time.
I see you then
In that red scarf.
You didn’t knit it yourself,
but you wanted to learn.
And the white hat and blue peacoat you always wore together
made you feel so American
as you trudged along on those snow-covered streets.
Fooled by Southern summers
you gave those things away
even though they’d kept you warm for so long.
Now you can knit scarves,
but you never make red ones.
There are too many memories tied up
in your mind
with red strings.
You pass on that color,
Leave it for nature to surprise you with.
In a songbird’s wings
you can stand the shade.
But wrapping it around your neck
would simply be
too much.
You find comfort in the softness
of fibers
in soft hues …
You turn now,
trying to stand
not with your back to the world anymore,
but facing it.
You hold the pose,
remembering to breathe,
just as you remember
when to knit
and when to purl.
You love to watch the fibers
take shape beneath your hands
into something
recognizable,
useful,
real.
But still red
is like this for you …
the tingle of winter in the air.
I
watch the cardinal lift off into flight
watch the cardinal lift off into flight
And I don’t worry.
One day you’ll wear red again …
Amy, what a pensive, thoughtful, enigmatic poem, a delightful poem but not a frivolous one, celebrating both loss and presence. I like it very much.
Lovely imagery.
Buy cialis mg x in us online pharmacy.
Buy cialis. Cialis in las vegas. Cialis. Liquid cialis. Viagra cialis levitra buy cheap cialis buy ciali.