Color Me

[newsclippings]

I'm not sure I'm fully connecting with the piece. I will probably make some interpretive moves that are unwarranted. I'll say that in advance.

See the pale pink plastic bin?
in back is a home befitting
one black spider; beautiful--
I will bleach her later,
as to not hear the crunch.--The key to my interpretation of this poem is color (thank you title). I think the narrator is essentially saying do you see this pale (weak not vibrant), pink (gender), plastic (not real just surface) bin (container for who I am, something someone has placed me in by their expectations). Inside I'm this beautiful black spider. I will drain "her" (me) of color bleach is a good word here, so that her death is noiseless. This is a silent, clean sort of death.

I moon, an artful relief,--"relief" like the sculpture I'm taking. Moon well like mooning something. I took this to mean there are parts of "her" that show through and cause some type of embarrassment I'm guessing more toward others than to herself
realizing my week, not new,
recycled like an old man's
tattered pants, twisting one out to Kant--I like the pants image quite a bit.
before his heart cramps, limp dicked.--Interesting view of Kant. Cramped heart, limp dicked could deal with how the idea of moral goodness is trapped between our intentions. Though I really don't feel like considering Kant more fully at the moment.

I will not listen to death,
but there is fun in watching them
writhe, squirm, finally fluoresce.--Now we are back to the spider and how we strive to torment and kill our true selves. Fluoresce is a great word given how color doesn't exist without light. The spider is black but maybe in its crushing it emits light exposing more color. I'm probably rambling. I think this might be your ending line. I don't mind the color lines below but I would be tempted to move them up before this strophe.


Color her cornered,
color him confused.
Color her barren,
color him bruised.--These tell me that it is a relationship that has caused this suppression. Probably romantic in nature with barren rather than parental.

I hope some of the comments were helpful. My interpretation might be fully off.

Best,

Todd

You are helping me realize some missed connections here. I'm really humbled that you'd take the time out to do this, Todd. It also helps to know you're not connecting. I'm probably going to scrap the last lines and rework the whole piece.