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BLUE

THAT STAND SOFT AND A SKY THAT STANDS HIGH AND BLUE AND THE SUN SETTING BEHIND A WINDMILL AND ALWAYS

“She shuts her eyes, as the coffeemaker begins to gurgle, and she finds behind her eyelids hills that stand soft and a sky that stands high and blue, and the sun setting behind a windmill, and always, always, hazy strings of mountains that fall and fall away on the horizon.”

Hosseini, Khaled. And the Mountains Echoed. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013.

THROUGH THE MUSIC OF SPACE EYE HEAR A BELL RINGING BLUE IN SENTENCES THE LANGUAGE SPOKEN IN SLEEP BECOMES

“movement of time through the music of space,
eye hear a bell ringing blue in sentences

the language spoken in sleep becomes an echo here,
a translation when written down on white paper…”

Troupe, Quincy. “Sentences.” Errançities. Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, 2012.

MEMORIES AS ECHOES RESOUNDING THROUGH SEA BLUE SPACE IS WHAT OUR EARS KNOW REMEMBER HEARING

“as metaphors for restless movement bring sudden change
surprise in the way you hear errançities of double meaning
layered in music springing from secret memories as echoes
resounding through sea & blue space is what our ears know

& remember hearing voices speaking in tongues carrying
history
blooming as iridescent colors of flowers multifarious as
rainbows
arching across skies multilingual as joy or sorrow evoked
inside
our own lives when poetic errançities know their own forms”

Troupe, Quincy. “Sentences.” Errançities. Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, 2012.

YOU WILL FIND FLOCKS OF SICK BIRDS DYING IN THE BLUE SEA THAT IS SKY YOU WILL FIND HERDS OF ANIMALS

“2.

journey if you can
to the far poles of the world
there you will find flocks
of sick birds
dying in the blue sea that is sky
you will find herds of animals
huddled together in the snow
against the cold
with no feeling or touch
of each other, no knowledge
no love, dying in the fierce
blowtorching cold
yet they gaze eagerly
into seas of light
meeting darkness”

Troupe, Quincy. “Poem for Friends.” Transcircularities: New and Selected Poems. Minneapolis, MN: Coffee House Press, 2002.

NIGHT AMONG THE EVENING PAPERS SOME INTO THE BLUE NIGHT TWAS TO BE HOURS OUR SHOULDER GAPPED

“I get the channels for free
some fluency a piece of it & it
flew into the blooming night
among the evening papers

some . . . into the blue blue night
’twas to be hours
our shoulder gapped the door
required some decoding”

Doller, Ben. “Bus.” Radio, Radio: Poems. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2001. p. 28.

THE TOPS OF THE BUILDINGS STOOD OUT AGAINST THE BLUE SKY AND IN THE STREET A THOUSAND AUTOMOBILES

“The fog lifted; the tops of the buildings stood out against the blue sky,
And in the street a thousand automobiles speeding toward New York
were Shining.”

Reznikoff, Charles, and Milton Hindus. “Winter Sketches.” Selected Letters of Charles Reznikoff, 1917-1976. Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1997. p. 97.

Poetry Foundation

STRETCHES UNDER THE SUMMER'S TROPICAL SUN THE BLUE SKY THE APPROACHING NIGHT AND THE NIGHT AND

“The bit of earth upon which I press my feet here and now and the larger earth that yields me food and drink, this ocean with its relentless power when goaded by winter storms, and with its heavenly peace and calm in its middle stretches under the summer’s tropical sun, the blue sky, the approaching night, and the night and the morning, the sun, the stars, the milky way, the grass, the trees, my animal companions, the wild birds, the barn-yard fowls, my dogs, the cattle, the horse, and above all my human friends, my colleagues in work, and my family—all these have for me a reality that no disorder or dimness of mind (unless indeed, these go to the point of swoon or delirium) or no speculative sophistication can strip them of.”

Ritter, William Emerson. The Probable Infinity of Nature and Life: Three Essays. Boston, MA: Gorham Press, 1918. p. 131.

COLOR THERE WERE TWO BLUES THE DEEP BRIGHT BLUE AS DEEP AND AS BRIGHT AS THE GREEN A COLOR OF

“Power color. There were two blues; the deep bright blue—as deep and as bright as the green, a color of heat and no pain, but somewhat frightening in its intensity; and there was the pale blue, a cold calm that it always made me shiver and move fast for something to put over me.”

Weiner, Hannah. The Fast. New York: United Artists Books, 1992. pp. 22-3.

Internet Archive

WAXY TOUGH LEAVES THE SHRUB COLOR IS OFTEN BLUE GRAY THE FOREST WAS FIRE-ADAPTED OVER THE MILLENNIA

“Shrubs with small, aromatic, waxy, tough leaves. The shrub color is often blue-gray. The forest was fire-adapted over the millennia and is extremely resistant to wildfire once the larger underbrush has burnt or died away.”

Snyder, Gary. The Practice of the Wild. San Francisco: North Point Press, 1990. p. 137.

SENSITIVELY DEFINED AND THE LINEAMENTS OF THE BLUE EARTH WILL BEGIN TO RESHAPE THE POLITICS THE REQUIREMENTS

“As sure as impermanence, the nations of the world will eventually be more sensitively defined and the lineaments of the blue earth will begin to reshape the politics. The requirements of sustainable economies, ecologically sensitive agriculture, strong and vivid community life, wild habitat—and the second law of thermodynamics—all lead this way.”

Snyder, Gary. The Practice of the Wild. San Francisco: North Point Press, 1990. p. 43.

SO OLD THEY'VE SHRIVELED INTO ODD YELLOW PEAS BLUE INK UPON GRAY PAPER SKETCHES A GARDEN-TO-BE

“A bowl of lemons so old they’ve shriveled into odd yellow peas.
Blue ink upon gray paper sketches a garden-to-be.
Osprey, high over the mouth of the river, circling with a fish in its
claws.”

Silliman, Ron. "Ⓡ." Conjunctions, no. 21 (1993): p. 169.

RISING FROM THE NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE THE WAY THE BLUE SHADES IN ADVANCE OF THE SUN YOU BREATHE AS

“The owls are not what we deem. Describe each vent (there are five) rising from the neighbor's house. The way the blue shades in advance of the sun. You breathe as you sleep (peacefully) and I listen as if to the music of the waves.”

Silliman, Ron. "From "Under"." The Iowa Review 26, no. 2 (1996): 174-78. Accessed June 24, 2021. p. 176.

THE MARKS OF A CHA'ALK ON MY CHIN AND BODY 'IIKUUYCH APESIIW ARE OUR CHA'ALK SHE IS KWAHMAY SHE IS

- Line 15, Yeechesh Cha’alk, Alex Hunter and Eva Trujillo.

SAIL GRAY WATER A SPASM CONVULSES THE EARTH BLUE LIGHTS A WIND SNAKE SHINE FORTH THE CENTURY

“Night river lost in my beard.
Clang-clang.
Sapless poplars.
Crowds setting sail.
Gray water.
A spasm convulses the earth.
Blue lights
& a wind snake
shine forth.
The century vanishes.”

Rothenberg, Jerome. "The Lorca Variations: 'Lunar Grapefruits'." Conjunctions, no. 18 (1992): 200. Accessed May 25, 2021.

WHITE WIND COMES FROM THE NORTH IS VERY HOT BLUE COMES FROM THE SOUTH THE RED WIND COMES FROM

“And from his little finger
he blows the Black Wind,
which is stronger than them all.

The White Wind comes from the north
& is very hot.
Blue comes from the south.
The Red Wind comes from the west
In the middle of the day, & is soft.”

Blanco, Santo. A Song of the Winds. In Technicians of the Sacred a Range of Poetries from Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania by Jerome Rothenberg, 216. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1969.

Internet Archive

DEW I DESIRE HAPPILY MAY FAIR YELLOW CORN FAIR BLUE CORN FAIR CORN OF ALL KINDS PLANTS OF ALL KINDS

“Abundant dark clouds I desire
An abundance of vegetation I desire
An abundance of pollen, abundant with dew, I desire

Happily may fair white corn come with you to the ends of the
earth
Happily may fair yellow corn, fair blue corn, fair corn of all
kinds, plants of all kinds, goods of all kinds, jewels of all kinds,
come with you to the ends of the earth”

from The Night Chant (after Bitahatini) (Navaho Indian) Washington Matthews, The Night Chant, a Navaho Ceremony (Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History [New York, 1902], pp. 143-5. Rothenberg, Jerome. Technicians of the Sacred a Range of Poetries from Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1969. p. 80.

Internet Archive

POP OUT IN A MATRIX OF HORIZONTAL LINES A SINGLE BLUE DOT WILL POP OUT AGAINST A COLLECTION OF GREEN

“For example, a single vertical line will ‘pop out’ in a matrix of horizontal lines. A single blue dot will ‘pop out’ against a collection of green dots. There are cells tuned to orientation and color in low-level (early) visual processing.”

Ramachandran, V. S. The Tell-tale Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Quest for What Makes Us Human. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. p. 302.

HESITATION PUT THE RED-DOTTED BOX AT THE BOTTOM THE BLUE DOTTED BOX IN THE MIDDLE AND THE GREEN-DOTTED

“If you have a normal brain you will, without hesitation, put the red-dotted box at the bottom, the blue-dotted box in the middle, and the green-dotted box on top, and then climb to the top of the pile to retrieve the dangling reward.”

Ramachandran, V. S. The Tell-tale Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Quest for What Makes Us Human. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. p. 186.

DESCRIBE COULD YOU EXPLAIN WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO SEE BLUE TO A PERSON WHO HAS BEEN BLIND FROM BIRTH OR

“Imagine how frustrating it must be to sense something you cannot describe. Could you explain what it feels like to see blue to a person who has been blind from birth? Or the smell of Marmite to an Indian, or saffron to an Englishman?”

Ramachandran, V. S. The Tell-tale Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Quest for What Makes Us Human. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. p. 115.

MASS INTO A RISEN GLOOM GREEN VALLEYS BATHED IN BLUE LIGHT LULL A SCATTERED POPULATION THE WORLD

“A religious virgin of unspecified sex
Opens the book again. Great trees
Mass into a risen gloom. Green
Valleys bathed in blue light lull
A scattered population. The world ends;

A person is born, no sense
Thinking about it forever.”

Perelman, Bob. “Book years.” Primer. Oakland, CA: This Press, 1981. p. 12.

Internet Archive

STRETCHES UNDER THE SUMMER'S TROPICAL SUN THE BLUE SKY THE APPROACHING NIGHT AND THE NIGHT AND

“The bit of earth upon which I press my feet here and now and the larger earth that yields me food and drink, this ocean with its relentless power when goaded by winter storms, and with its heavenly peace and calm in its middle stretches under the summer’s tropical sun, the blue sky, the approaching night, and the night and the morning, the sun, the stars, the milky way, the grass, the trees, my animal companions, the wild birds, the barn-yard fowls, my dogs, the cattle, the horse, and above all my human friends, my colleagues in work, and my family—all these have for me a reality that no disorder or dimness of mind (unless indeed, these go to the point of swoon or delirium) or no speculative sophistication can strip them of.”

Ritter, William Emerson. The Probable Infinity of Nature and Life: Three Essays. Boston, MA: Gorham Press, 1918. p. 131.

ARE OCEANS OPEN ARE HISTORY MOVIES CLOSED ARE BLUE SKIES OPEN ARE SORROW PAIN IRIS CLARITY EVENTS

“Mother Mask has twigs in her hair
she is all eye that sometimes closes shut
stars on her eyelids, open are oceans
open are history movies, closed are
blue skies, open are sorrow pain iris clarity events
I forget if closed & open make any difference”

Notley, Alice. "Mother Mask." Ploughshares 15, no. 4 (1989): 153-54. Accessed June 24, 2021.

MORNING CLOUDS UNLOAD THEMSELVES ON THE WORLD BLUE PEEPS THROUGH SUNNY BOYS HAVE SPACIOUS SOULS

“Small birds puff their chests and feathers
With the pleasure that they know better
High morning clouds unload themselves
On the world. Blue peeps through
Sunny boys have spacious souls but killers
Build war zones in the sky where they go to die
Blue poems. Blue ozone. A V-sign
Sails into the elements: an old ship
Named Obsolete though Lovely is easier to see
Now visualize heaven as everything around it”

Howe, Fanny. “Introduction to the World.” Selected Poems. Berkley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2000. p. 8.

University of California Press

APPLAUDING LACKLUSTRE BUT LUMINOUS DOOMED BLUE TENT CAROUSEL BALLON EVERY OTHER BANALITY BUT

“A long day, a long evening, alone, the sky at twilight immense & wonderful. Gold versus silver. Like the reins & bits of circus horses, shining with spittle & sweat, it goes round and round, like circus bells, like circus ropes, the filtering silver dust like pollen, through the long pines & the crowds of birds applauding, lacklustre, but luminous, doomed & blue, tent, carousel, ballon & every other banality, but true.”

Howe, Fanny. Holy Smoke. New York: Fiction Collective, 1979. p. 85.

TRANSPARENT IN THE SPRING MY GREEN MIGHT BE YOUR BLUE BUT THE PATTERNS WOULD BE SATISFYING AND THE

“Dogwood snowing on the china blue sky. Green leaves brilliant and transparent in the spring. My green might be your blue, but the patterns would be satisfying, and the same. Certain monkeys have speckled reddish hair that approaches feathering.”

Howe, Fanny. Holy Smoke. New York: Fiction Collective, 1979. p. 4.

THAT THE MEAN VALUE OF VISITING A POPULATION OF BLUE FLOWERS IS THE SAME AS VISITING THE YELLOW FLOWERS

“This sucrose distribution ensures that the mean value of visiting a population of blue flowers is the same as that of visiting the yellow flowers, though the yellow flowers are more uncertain than the blues.”

Churchland, Patricia Smith. "How Do Neurons Know?" Daedalus 133, no. 1 (2004): 42-50. Accessed June 30, 2021. p. 48.