This has been quite a month. I didn't know how many stories and poems were longing to be set free from the confines of my inner heart. I am so glad for the Slice of Life challenge. Like other contributors, I've posted on many different topics and in varied genres, but I wanted to make sure I included a piece for each of my four children. For Drew, it was a story on his birthday. For Maggie I wrote a poem as she was in surgery. My son, T.J. and I wrote a poem in tandem about a memory of his first leap off a high diving board. And, now I end the challenge with something for Sarah.

Here's some background:

My daughter is more passionate than most in this life about color.  She has been known to be brought to tears with an intense gray that moves her.  She looks forward each year to when the Pantone color of the year is announced. She not only paints a room for how much she likes the color, but the it's name has to speak to her as well! So when I asked her to text me seven of her favorite Pantone colors I thought it would be an easy task.  But, it was not. She wanted to know why. I wouldn't tell her. She persisted in requesting some context. I wouldn't share it with her because I wanted to surprise her with a poem.

She was having a tough time with the mystery and continue to give me a hard time about it.  At one point in our text exchange I asked her, "Is there a color for difficult?" This made her laugh.  She is actually one of the least difficult people on this earth.

What was difficult for me, however, was the task of finding the poetry form to suit what I have in my heart for Sarah.  And then I happened upon Haibun.  This poetry combines the familiar Haiku form -- giving this piece structure around the color descriptions -- and prose which allows freedom (symbolic of my daughter's spirit).  This is for my daughter, Sarah, one of the most intensely and beautifully color-filled people I've ever known.

Sarah in Pantone Colors

Blue Ink

Hydrangea in bloom

Perhaps Heaven's ink well spilled

Earth's enchanting expo

She lavishes the world with eyes of blue -- like two hydrangea blooms -- delicate, delightful, strong, enduring, captivating all who look in them. And they dance with the music of all of life's possibilities.

Fiesta Red

Cheery-voiced delight

Dance and bounce; natures party

Gregarious song

Filled with passion and love, she awakens sure footed ready to celebrate this day, this moment.  Her voice fills all the rooms she enters with cheerfulness like a morning songbird at an open window in spring's morning light.

Earth 732-C

Fortifying strength

A womb for flower seeds

Dark and splendorous

Warm, grounded, and earthy, her care and unbounded generosity fortifies those around her.  She is reliable and grounded, and others are drawn to the protection she offers in her safe spirit.

Stormy Weather

Grays encroach, lights flash

Nature unleashes torrents

Earth's strongest survive

And life, at times, became the darkest of dark, pushing her to she search for truth. And the storms raged, and she held fast.

Plum Wine

White bud perseveres

Exotic fruit to emerge

The world takes notice

She, like the plum blossom, perseveres from the late winter's chill into the warmth of spring. Her hard work and patience is the crown she wears through life. She has been handed neither wealth nor an easy road, but she presses on.  Inspiration is her perfume.

Golden Sunset

Day's spotlight dims warm

Lingering in quiet form

Dusk receives her zeal

Quietly she contemplates her life and within the safety of the lovely space she has created, she believes that the night's interlude will reset her heart.  As she ponders with gratitude the joy along with the disappointments and dreams unfulfilled, faith is her fuel.

Emerald Green

Symbol of Venus

Rare gem of the earth revealed

Legacy of love and grace

Vivid, sparkling and exquisite.  Her beauty within and without is timeless.

She is filled with color.  

She is my daughter.

She is Sarah in Pantone Colors.