Wing Prints and Ink Blots

(Look where day dreaming takes you)

At break of day, gun metal clouds

swept past my undraped window where

my sights were set on heavy greys.

A backwash for my waking eyes,

where not a shred of brightness seen,

an artist's canvas void of paint.

Then silhouettes of gulls in flight

flashed by to disappear at speed,

their imprints planted in my mind.

At school the pen nib left its stain.

Those ink blots on my page unkind,

and red marks from my teacher's pen

indelible remain behind.

Reviews

[BonnyRivers]

I really like this Chris. Gulls in flight have always intrigued me, maybe it's their lonesome call that awakens one to the vastness of the sea or eternity, reminiscent of frothing waves, salty air and an unreachable expanse of the unknown. Also, it's interesting how those 'red marks...indelible remain behind'. I'm glad the experience didn't stop you from writing, this is beautiful.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Bonny. Those red marks were hurtful and all because I couldn't afford my own pen and had to use one the school supplied, which I'm sure had a broken nib. My Dad came to the rescue and bought me a maroon osmiroid italic pen. There you go, such an impression it made on me I have never forgotten it. After that there was nbo stopping me. Thank you for your lovely review.

Chris

[Neville]

Although this is so very bloomin good .. I wonder what kinda spin Rorschach would put on it .. I'm betting he would be forced to submit & blame it all on poetry :)

[Chris Shaw]

You are far too kind. Your shrink mate Rorschach would tell ya, the red marks in particular have left her with a need to aim for perfection which is a pain in the arss most of the time :) Thank you Neville 🍷

[Harmony Lee]

Like yin and yang, there can exist brightness within darkness, color within dullness, interrelated and working together to create something greater than the sum of the parts. That is not to justify the pain of the red marks so much as to validate the feeling and the good that can come with or despite it.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you. Those red marks and comments stuck to me like glue. I still remember them now and the feelings they gave me. All good wishes.

Chris

[Harmony Lee]

Perhaps that attachment you feel towards the red marks and comments reveals your commitment to your work and its impact on people. It's important, though, for me to remember what power my own "red marks" could have for better and/or worse.

[Pete]

a poet can turn anything to wonderful. i'll follow those gulls in flight and let them pull my mind any day of the week and twice on Sunday. those red marks are not everlasting. great stuff Chris ... :)

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you so much Pete.

Chris

[Einstein Noodle]

how interesting ... the turn is ... clouds, wall paper, wood floors or linoleum ..all produce the most incredible and evolving "blots" ... but your hailing back to childhood school days brought me to an abrupt halt in reveries ...taught by Nuns I recall with trepidation those "red" marks ... its hell when we are anxious to please ... it gives up too much power sometimes ... I am fortunate to be long ago healed of any real or imagined abuses in my life ... but tragically the wounds are too deep .. the wounded to crippled to recover fully ...your poem inspires imagination then touches tender places ...universally relatable ... the rhymes and rhythms smooth and natural .... well done!
E.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Mr E. Strange that those red marks should suddenly return. They'd certainly been buried deep, but I know at the time they hurt. And you too had your own red marks. Thank you so much for your visit. Hope all is good with you.

Chris

[moog-drika]

Every negativity has some stains of positivity in it. Daydreaming takes you to a place where you can pour out your colors on a void canvas. You can even turn out the red marks, the color of disappointment to a color of relish, and this is what daydreaming can do I think. And this write indeed has shown the power of that. Beautifully penned with lovely details. :D

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you moog-drika for your lovely response. Much appreciated.

Chris

[Beccy]

'Look where day dreaming takes you.'

Yes, and look how the heart of the true poet can take the mundane, the every day ordinary, and transform it into a delightfully whimsical and thoroughly enjoyable poem.

I recall well those red marks. Beccy.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Beccy.

[Jimmy Yetts]

Pure poetry.
Lovely, Chris!

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Jimmy. Pleased you enjoyed the read.

[Lorry]

It is surprising the corridors we wander in the mind. How one feeling can be thrown at you from out of nowhere, with a feeling of instant permanence, diverting your thoughts where mothers would so fear to tread.
The greyness at the start is never a good sign, take it from someone who lives in a country where we forget the real colour of the sky, for the cloud of dullness we live under.
Even the birds are silhouettes, before turning to times that we could never make a connection with, but like the memory itself, some thing are permanent reminders of what we would rather choose not to feel or know.
Beautiful write Annette. Raw, open and honest.

[Chris Shaw]

Thanks for your thoughts Lorry. Very much appreciated.

Chris

[Lorry]

You're welcome Chris :)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

good and bad memories...how we find the good in the bad...the blotches of beauty in an ugly sky...the red marks we remember from the unkind teacher's pen...and yet we learn we learn we learn...
so we can create our own memories and make them beautiful.
j.

[Chris Shaw]

We can and do make our own memories and I am thankful for that Jacob. I try to turn most of mine into beautiful ones. There is enough ugliness in the world without creating more :))

Chris