Orange

Cherry

By Jane Hyphen

Wed, 27 Mar 2019
  • 3249 reads
12 comments
 

 

Orange just doesn’t sit right with me

Claiming to be both colour and fruit

It can’t just choose one and it’s loud

Too shouty, too few this colour suits

Is it juicy or is that just me? See

You can’t help but think of vitamin C

 

And orbicular shapes, it’s round

Like a traffic light that says dither

It’s a colour that bounces, jumps

Hits you in the face with no shame

It’s a high viz man with hot tar mac

And the hotter molten flow of a volcano

 

Orange doesn’t blend well with others

Steals the hue stage from friendlier colours

There are no fellow words with which to rhyme

A boy at my school was called Barry Gorringe

His hair was the same like a stand-alone flair

And his only friend was a Space Hopper

 

The colour of cones that stand near a spill

A supermarket floor pooled with Tikka Masala

A cheap buffet and a bowl of stale Wotsits

Orange is no shrinking violet however

At sunset it lies down with purple and

Warms the heart as does the flames of a fire

 

Certificate U
Poem
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Well, at least it seems to blend in with some other colours in the sunset and flame and give a warming glow. (Actually if you want to be leagalisitc I expect you shouldn't have mentioned a second colour!). I was struggling with doing 'orange' in my Colours for Kids project, so I'll probably leave that now! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Ooops I forgot about that, violet crept in there. Thanks Rhiannon, orange is a difficult colour but we'd miss it if it wasn't there and I have some orange and purple tulips about to blossom, they're called 'Slawa' and they sort of clash and blend all at the same time.

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

Poor Barry and his space hopper. indecision

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Thanks Insert, they're still together.

And many thanks for the cherries.

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi Jane,

just read your I P poem and thought deeply about how strong a colour orange actually is.

I thought your idea of orange being a colour that bounces and jumps then hits you in the face with no shame was original.

Jenny.

 

 

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Thanks Jenny. It certainly is strong, stronger than red you might say. I suppose there are softer shades like burnt orange which give you a little nudge rather than a hit in the face.

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Good use of the language, Jane. I like 'orbicular shapes' and the crafty suggestion that Barry Gorringe might rhyme with orange as no other rhymes come readily to mind. I seem to have read that 'door hinge' would be suitable. 
I too was castigated for not adhering strictly to the rules but I wouldn't worry, your poem is so appealing as to transcend any transgression. I liked it.

Luigi x

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

Thank you for your comment. Door hinge, I've never heard of that, it is quite clever but you have to say it in cockney voice I think. We are quite the rebels not sticking to the IP rules Luigi x

 

Submitted by celticman on

orange has only negative connations for any celticman

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

I did contemplate weaving that theme into my poem celticman but I figured I was on shaky ground especially when that ground still seems to be shaking.

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

And the colour of harvest. Warm and happy, full of the summer before Winter turns it brown. And in some religions it's special, isn't it?

At foundation we had a lecture about orange, it's the only one I can remember. The person giving the lecture had the same reaction as you :0) I never see those orange plastic chairs you get everywhere in the same way, after that

At Sainsbury's where I used to work, the uniform was orange because some colour theorist had told them that seeing orange would make customers hungry, so buy more? But it also made them noisy, so they made the uniform part blue, to calm them down...

I wonder if the biggest problem is having colours thrust on you in order to make you feel a certain way, brainwashing you. If your brain is already strongly feeling a coloiur of emotion that clashes then it's bound to be grating?

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

That is interesting Di_Hard, I never thought of orange as a colour to invoke hunger. I worked at Asda and always thought the green was more likely to whet the appetite. I think you're right about having colours thrust upon you in certain themes, it's rather like people's names, it forms an association. I've always thought of orange as a stale colour because it makes me think of the seventies. You are right about autumn, warm and happy. Thanks for your comment.