Indigo black is for ‘I’… #poetry #dVerse

It’s going to have to be black because
black tastes of late October
not all-black, of course
for all-black is not a colour but
an absence:
Inky black spills into my mind
on days when the sun won’t shine
inky black is for ‘I’ as in (Mood) Indigo:
here we go, down the whirlpool of the senses
inky-black, squid-ink taste words on the page
edible dye, indelible ink:
indigo black is for ‘I.’
Blue-black is the blood of the aristocracy
and of lobster before it screams into red in the pot
but we’re not talking of red and of ‘A’:
We are talking of black and of ‘I’
like black when it shines
in the eyes of a lover
like when it burns with white-hot fire as in
‘let not light see my black and deep desires’
is that the light at the centre of a black hole
which radiates out across the universe?
Black into white
dark into light
black is for I
shall banish the night
and unlearn the colour of I
till it shines
till it sings me goodnight.

© Experimentsinfiction 2020, All Rights Reserved

Written for dVerse Meeting The Bar: Synesthesia where host Grace has given us the following fascinating prompt:

The writing challenge: Today we will write about color from the perspective of a synesthete. Pick one color or several colors. Create your own Dictionary of Color. All sounds have color. The alphabet has color. Days of the week have color. Each day has a color and a certain shape.’

I don’t have any experience of synesthesia but my vatic voice told me ‘Black is for I.’ I guess you never know until you try!

I am also linking up to Earthweal’s Open Link Weekend. This is how I’ve been feeling in this strange first week of November in which the fate of our lives on Earth may well hang in the balance.

To close out here’s the late, great Nina Simone singing ‘Mood Indigo:’

Photo by Rahul from Pexels

60 thoughts on “Indigo black is for ‘I’… #poetry #dVerse

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  1. I love the colors you mix in this poem.

    “Black into white
    dark into light
    black is for I
    shall banish the night
    and unlearn the colour of I”

    It’s just beautiful, and it delves into memory associated with color and imagery. Amazing piece!

  2. Well, you nailed this with the synesthesia and song to go with it. Can’t believe you’ve never don it before. Black as in. Indigo with dark shedding light.. love it, Nice job Ingrid! ❤️❤️👏👏👏👏😎😎
    Cindy

      1. lovely!!! It was soooo nice at home yesterday but the b.d. boys wishes have taken us to the lake.. freezing and blowing a gale… burrr. but as he wishes. 🤨haha

  3. I love how you defined your shade of color – moody shade of indigo. Your voice is powerful one, like an affirmation of your journey specially:

    black is for I
    shall banish the night
    and unlearn the colour of I

  4. Indigo is such an atmospheric color, and you do it justice in this lovely poem. I read and reread to absorb all the nuances and appreciate the appeal to the senses. Then I closed my eyes and listened to Nina Simone’s beautiful rendition of “Mood Indigo.” What an enjoyable post, Ingrid! Wonderful! <3

  5. This is incredibly potent. The poem is a shade of both poignancy and passion. Especially love; “Blue-black is the blood of the aristocracy and of lobster before it screams into red in the pot.” 🙂

  6. masterful writing Ingrid/Indigo … almost an anagram of your name! Not a fan of black or darkness but you have woven magic into this one … and the song reflects that, what a voice 🙂

  7. I’m glad you chose black, Ingrid. So many people say it’s not a colour, but it’s my favourite colour to wear, my favourite colour of ink to write with, and I agree, ‘black tastes of late October’. I enjoyed the lines:
    ‘here we go, down the whirlpool of the senses
    inky-black, squid-ink taste words on the page
    edible dye, indelible ink:
    indigo black is for ‘I.’’
    And thank you for Nina!

  8. I adored this in depth rocking of the prompt; albeit as an old house painter I have to quibble with the line “black is the absence of color.” With paint, white is the absence of color, and when you mix several colors they head through dark brown on their way to black–so ironically, black is the amalgam of color, not the absence.

    1. I suppose technically speaking it’s the absence of light – because true black would absorb it all…pleased you enjoyed the poem, anyway!

  9. Love, love, love this, Ingrid:
    “black is for I
    shall banish the night
    and unlearn the colour of I” —– these words positively sing like Nina Simone. ❤️

  10. I like all the different descriptions of black, especially, “Blue-black is the blood of the aristocracy
    and of lobster before it screams into red in the pot.” I’m glad I’m not an aristocrat now, haha! Fun read!

  11. Great response to the challenge Ingrid. The soul of black comes through here in florid detail. Our ecstasies and agonies are all inked with it. – B

  12. I really enjoyed this. There’s such a great rhythm and flow to it–all the things black is and is not–and then that final section, like a little incantation.

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