Here is an audio mp3 of the poem “Blue” read and written by Jane Piirto
BLUE
©Jane Piirto. All Rights Reserved.
from cobalt china improvised vessels
to towered Istanbul the end of the Silk Road
to labyrinthine Byzantium ancient track and temple
carry my blue
from aquamarine waves in protruding roils
to pacific cliffs the last door west
to naked Tahiti refuge of artists and aliens
carry my blue
from lapus lazuli caves interior mines
to turquoise-strewn desert sandstone peaks
to nay yards full of mothballed ships
carry my blue
veiled for the mother deserted by distance
the matter of image caught in fantasy
the city as madonna with flowing hair
my blue necklace chokes me chokes me
wed to approval, conditioned by taboo
I cannot tell that story yet,
caught coming and going between children and parent
I cannot tell that story yet.
Publication history:
Piirto, J. (1996). Blue. Between the Memory and the Experience. Ashland, OH: Sisu Press
