It’s a question asked by Japanese poet Nanao Sakaki. I’d like to take a stab at answering it. Because everything I have tried to write about in the last few days feels stale and stilted, silly and insensitive.
Great Purple is the pain I get in my heart when I think about my children not seeking out my hand anymore when they cross a busy street. Or imagining them rendered immobile from the pain of a broken heart. It’s the way in which I miss my nieces and nephews five hundred miles away. It’s the color of my sadness when I stop and think about the growth of their arms and legs, the evolution of their already brilliant brains. It’s the depth of my appreciation when I watch the morning sun rise over the river from my bedroom window. It’s the height of my anticipation as I’m driving home from work, knowing that Allan and a glass of wine are awaiting me. Great Purple is my funkified brain under duress, as cold and frozen as a snow cone in northern Russia… in the dead of winter… with a windchill of -103. Great purple is the anxiety bubbling up in my throat at the thought of rejection or dismissal or indifference… in any way, shape or form. It’s the gem in my high school class ring and the color I could stare at for days upon days upon days. Lastly, it’s my legs. I graze. I bump. I touch the slightest thing with a slightly superfluous amount of pressure, and the bruises lay in wait. Always. Always. Always.
Anyway, tell me, if you are so inclined, what is great purple to you.
What a lovely post. So thoughtful and original.
ReplyDeleteLets see, great purple to me is the color of the tea I make my boys after their afternoon nap after we have had sufficient snuggle time on the couch. We are completely refreshed and ready to proceed with our busy day.
Catherine - that was great. I loved this.
ReplyDeleteGreat Purple is a happier color for me. It is calming, like blue, but with a warmth from the red which makes me feel happy and content. It is the color I feel when someone tells me they love me, and I know it is true. Great Purple has a regalness about it, making me feel important, cared for, and my heart sings. I recently bought a rich grape purple comforter for my bed, and I sleep so well under it. Happy purple dreams happen when I'm wrapped up in it. Mmmm.
ReplyDeleteThat was beautiful, Catherine. I don't think I could come up with anything approaching this - I'd only embarrass myself. Like, "Great Purple sang Smoke On The Water.
ReplyDeleteOh wait - that was Deep Purple. See what I mean?
This is a great post. I can't come close to you on this either, but for me great purple is the love I have for my Dad. I had a pair of bright purple pants as a kid, and he made fun of me in that sweet loving way only fathers can every time I wore them. I still avoid all things bright purple, thinking of my dad and smiling.
ReplyDeletei guess that Great Purple shouldn't be a happy thing. For me, it is the feeling i get when i think about my Nan, that i didn't get to say goodbye. The feeling i get when i think that my parents won't always be with me.
ReplyDeleteand it's the feeling i get when i feel that everything is wrong and i can't see how to put it right
For me, great purple is not great or majestic or mystical at all - it's the thoughts and memories that are so painful that I can't bear to bring them into my mind, let alone type them out in black and white.
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