Amarillo

This entry is part 17 of 47 in the series Morning Porch Poems: Summer 2012

 

Overheard lunchtime conversation: Longing is a color, just as much as a state.
And as I turn to the window, goldfinches pass through the trees like a yellow wind.

Along the boardwalk, shops sell puka shell bracelets, batik sarongs, T-shirts silkscreened
Virginia is for Lovers. Skateboarders on the street, zipping by like day-glo wind.

See the parasailers aloft in their tethered vests. Waves roll in and crash, then roll out
again. The beach is dotted with collapsible tents, ochre-striped flaps open to the wind.

From someone’s radio, the dance theme from Slumdog Millionaire. I’m seized by
a craving for lemon rice, mango chutney, some hint of chillies and saffron in the wind.

Some days are impermeable, asbestos. Other days spontaneously combust. The thing is,
there’s no warning panel with lights flashing yellow, no siren blaring into the wind.

Amarillo‘s another name for the blossom of the Caraiba, Tabebuia, or Araguaney:
long-throated flowers emerge after leaves have shed, rustling like gold foil in the wind.

Dear sunflower, you are too faithful, following that scorcher all day— Has he ever
bent to kiss your hot golden head? No? But rain’s been kind; and the cool wind.

 

In response to an entry from the Morning Porch.

Series Navigation← What We’ll RememberGhost of a pulse in the throat →

One Reply to “Amarillo”

  1. THE SUNFLOWER

    As faith would have it, she is loyal to the scorcher.
    She moves her face for its hoard of caress until
    he singes all that is tinder dry in the woods where
    she would find herself the first to perish by fire.

    —Albert B. Casuga
    07-16-12

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