Early this morning, a force eight gale chucked drizzle about, slammed gates, broke fences, snapped branches off trees, and threw refuse bins about. To counteract the melancholy that threatened me at sight and sound of the mayhem, I donned my favourite bright pink raincoat and took my dog on an energising walk.
Immediately we returned home, the wind dropped, the sun came out, and it seemed I’d even managed to cheer up the weather with my dazzling gear! This led me to wonder if people call bright pink “shocking pink” because it shocks them out of their gloom.
Seeing how this colour has had such a positive effect upon me up today, I’ve decided to share two tanka poems: one new and one old (both related to pink), as well as some random photos of pink flowers.
~Artificial light~
Reflection of hydrangeas
in dark window glass.
After midnight, party girls
stagger home, petals faded.
Metallic winter
enhanced by rhododendrons
— rejuvenation –
an old woman with grey hair
wearing neon pink lipstick.
 
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Sarah Potter Writes 
Pink is my Mom’s favorite color! I enjoyed how you shook up your day, blew your gloom by going on a walk through the storm-shook neighborhood. I liked both your tankas, the first one about faded party girls and the second one, making me chuckle. My Mom had my Dad in 1963, when we had a new home to move into, paint the front door a bright pink, the rest of the house was white with white shutters… one more step, though… she had him paint this one section of the bricks on the split level, every fifth brick pink and every sixth brick white. Across the street, a blue house with a bright red door made this quite the contrast in our ‘sedate’ neighborhood. Just you inspired a good memory when I was in third grade… Thanks for this day-brightener! Smiles, Robin
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What a wonderful story about your colourful home in the 60s. It sounds if you were one step ahead of the advent of flower power and psychedelia a few years later. Thanks for sharing that, Robin. Likewise, you made me smile. Sarah 🙂
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I LOVE Artificial Light!!! The party girls returning home like faded petals.
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I have some vague memory, from my distant past, of returning home like a faded petal. Can’t get away with that sort of thing these days. I’d just end up looking like a wilted hydrangea for a week after partying, however much water I drank to hydrate me again!
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When you have a dog to walk, you can’t be too choosy about the weather, and I love that your raincoat is shocking pink, which is guaranteed to brighten up the dullest, wettest day. Enjoyed both of your tanka poems, and also the pretty pink flowers. 🙂
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I think that without a dog to make me go out, I might become one with my computer in the winter!
Glad you enjoyed the poems and flowers, Sylvia 🙂
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Very nice post Sarah! 🙂 That sums all up!
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Thank you 🙂
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I do enjoy a shock of pink now and then, indeed my two favourite t-shirts are shockingly in your face pink. Well you’re braver than me or our dogs, they took one look at the wind and rain from the back door then ran for the safety of the sofa!
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I like your pink shirt in that photo of yours. It really suits you.
My dog and I did nearly jump out our skins once, when one of those small bins suddenly moved along the pavement behind us of its own accord, making a scraping clattering noise. At that moment, I did question my wisdom at being outside. There’s often a very thin dividing line between bravery and foolishness!
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Nature is not all cruelty. She has a lot of kindness. What’s that saying, “you’ve got, to be cruel to be kind?” There’s a species of protea in South Africa, on table mountain that relies on fires to release its seeds. What fabulous colours she (nature) has on her palette . I like your metaphor of shocking pink shocking one out of ones gloom
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I agree that order and chaos both have a place in nature. Thinking of what you said about fires and seeds, ash from bonfires can be full of nutrients that are ultimately good for the soil and help fertilise it for future plant and crop growth.
I’m glad you like my metaphor 🙂
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Hi Sarah,
I just loved this post–from you in your shocking pink raincoat to all the vivid imagery. You are so talented! Now I am going to go put on some pink lipstick.
Best wishes for the New Year!
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Hi Naomi,
So glad you loved this post. Make sure to post a picture of yourself wearing pink lipstick!
Best wishes to you, too, for the New Year 🙂
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I second Naomi’s response. What beautiful imagery and images. This definitely made me smile!!!! I must try that though I do not have a dog and have only a bright yellow slicker!!
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Thank you, Cybele. So happy to have made you smile 🙂
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Beautiful Sarah. I’m not really a pink girl, except when it comes to nature and the luscious cherry and rhododendron blossoms in particular.
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You look far too good wearing blue to bother with pink, Andrea. I used to look okay in blue but don’t look so wonderful in it anymore, re tops, as my skin tone has changed with age, but I still like my blue jeans!
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I adore pink (and purple is second on my list). The images are sensational, heightened by the tanka writing.
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Same here, Christy. Purple is second on my list 🙂
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Fabulous poems and post Sarah 🙂 I’m partial to pink lipstick and if I found a bright pink raincoat I would definitely buy it! We live in the Pacific Northwest so yeah I could do with a raincoat that chases the rainclouds and wind away for a day or two 😉
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Thank you, Yolanda 🙂 My pink raincoat hasn’t succeeded in chasing away the rain today. I wore it even though the sky was clear, so it acted like a beacon to the rain. Now all is windy, wet, and muddy as I look out of the window but, being the right side of the glass, I’m not feeling too gloomy.
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I have a lovely photo of my daughter as a three year old wearing a bright pink raincoat. It’s in California and whenever it rained, rarely, the kids loved getting in their wellies (brought back from here), raincoats and brollies and splashing out in puddles. Then the sun would return. You have reminded me so much of that time reading this delightful post Sarah. And I love the vision of you in your pink raincoat! I tend to wear too much black and grey and blue…perhaps I need to brighten things up a little 🙂 But definitely not the neon pink lipstick, ha! Lovely poems and photos to brighten up any day 🙂
PS I haven’t forgotten about the 777 challenge and award…just to let you know that, and will be getting to them asap 🙂
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I used to wear a lot of black, but it’s mostly too harsh against my skin these days, although my favourite winter coat is black but it has some lovely gold and buff fur trim around the hood to perk it up a bit. The only grey that suits me is of the charcoal shade and the only blues are royal or denim. The other bright colour I love, apart from pink, is cherry red but most definitely not pillar box red! I do wear brown and plum quite a lot, too. Not into wearing lipstick, but my mother is, and it’s usually bright pink, which looks lovely against her golden skin and forget-me-not blue eyes 🙂
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Your mother sounds as glam as ever Sarah 🙂
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