image from paramojunt.com
Muckraker
“I yam what I yam.” --Popeye.
Yeah, yeah,
you can talk until
you’re blue in the face
about the shades and types
of Blue, but be aware
I am the only true and pure
blue.
My name is Cyan.
I am a bit of a shade shifter.
Blue is the light spectrum
between violet and green.
I reside exactly midway
between the two,
wave lengths between 490-520nm.
My opposite hue is red.
When you mix us together
we create “white light”,
kundalini spiritual energy.
Light tango-dances on my chest,
and I am mistaken for teal & aqua.
Only superb cones in the
finest retinas can see me
as I am--Cyan blue.
Do you remember
that online debate
as to the color of “the Dress”
I am sort of like that,
but I take great pride
in who and what I am,
a thoroughbred.
I am that shallow water
over a white sand beach.
I am the sparkling dome
of the Tilla Kari Mosque
in Uzbekistan.
I am the planet Uranus
as seen from Voyager II,
surrounded by methane gas.
Methane absorbs red
and reflects as blue-green,
so I suppose I am the color
of bovine flatulence.
I am the natural gas flame
when mixed with oxygen.
I am the color of your skin
when your body is deprived of oxygen.
Sadly I’m named after Cyanide gas.
Attsa’ me, warts and all.
Glenn Buttkus
Posted over at d'Verse Poet's Pub
Oh dang you, Glenn. Now when I think of blue I'll be thinking of cow farts! .... excuse me, of course I meant bovine flatulence!
ReplyDeleteI loved this poem. The specific scientific details are folded in so well and the personification has a great voice.
ReplyDeleteI think of that blue in the flames when birch logs burn, such a hypnotic color. I really love that image of Popeye you chose.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of my days as a textile designer, trying to mix and exact match to the yarn color. I do believe the colors were often taunting me, as cyan does here.
ReplyDelete"warts and all" -- It's still a beautiful color.
ReplyDeleteThis was certainly creative and unique, had an interesting, humorous tone to it. "Bovine flatulence" was surprising for sure. :)
ReplyDeleteI love it Glenn. That is one tough looking Popeye! Your Personality is a real science lesson. I liked this...
ReplyDeletebut I take great pride
in who and what I am,
a thoroughbred.
I smell you!! :>)
ha - I loved the opening verse - you can talk until you're blue in the face...you do have a way with words, the whole piece was interesting.
ReplyDeleteI love the conversational tone of this poem, Glenn, which feels like sitting next to your character in a bar, and the excellent personification of Cyan, the ‘shade shifter’, interwoven with interesting facts and light tango dancing on his chest. My favourite lines:
ReplyDelete‘I am that shallow water
over a white sand beach’
and
‘I am the natural gas flame’, which reminds me of school science lessons with Bunsen burners.
You chose an unusual and fascinating shade of blue here Glenn. So many great lines:
ReplyDelete'Do you remember
that online debate
as to the color of “the Dress”
I am sort of like that,'
I do remember that, so I can picture this colour, and then 'the color of bovine flatulence' - amazing!
Well stated, and thank you for the education.
ReplyDeleteWhat a crescendo of blueness here Glenn. Fascinating — you yam what you yam dude!
ReplyDeleteYou had me at the Popeye image. And the smile just got bigger and bigger as I read it through. ��
ReplyDeleteI am the color
ReplyDeleteof bovine flatulence
I am the color
ReplyDeleteof bovine flatulence
charming!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love the color of cow's fart... still it's a lovely color
ReplyDelete