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Forsythia in Artificial Light

The forsythia in the yellow streetlight appears
classic, a bravura flower arrangement, yet somehow
artificial, untouchable, unlike forsythia enjoyed
at leisure in the midday sun. It's all I possess
as I hustle between late night urgent meetings.

Christopher T. George

Beauty finds us wherever we're willing to take the time to look. Better a flower noticed in the artificial light than focusing on the streetlights that illuminate it. Lighting can make all the difference in how things take on new hues and altered selves.


~ Lizzy

Hi Christopher T G,

I enjoy short poems like this, that evoke a clear feeling for me. Yellow is such a potent colour, vibrant and 'real'. Imagining it under an artificial yellow light seems to well reflect the idea of the falsity or surreality of the unusual meetings you allude to.

Thanks,

Diane

I've been reading this over and over. I think Chris must be a gigalo. Hah!

OK, sorry, I couldn't resist.

One good play on a poem deserves another, eh, Manna?


~ Lizzy

I was afraid people might think that, but it really does fit! He doesn't own this forsythia - it's part of the public street, so what he's saying is that he doesn't own anything, in a way, and how that plays against "hustl[ing] between late night urgent meetings," well, doesn't it?

Well... late-night urgent meetings does leave cause for wonder. It's a bit of a stretch, but I think I get what you're saying with the not owning... yet, there wouldn't be ownership, anyway, would there?

I was thinking of last-minute editorial stuff before something goes to press. How pedestrian, right?... except this time, that comment really fits.

Who knows, though... Christopher?


~ Lizzy

Thanks all. I suppose what one really ultimately "owns" is a theme in my writing. I often write from the bereft side. One of my songs, written with Erik Sitbon, is called "All You Got Is the Blues."

Chris