burano venice
come a little closer, i want to seduce you.
dip your bare hands into the paint barrels i have placed at your feet, at your sides, up ahead. lift your fingers to the earth blue sky and watch the oily liquid squirm, gravity its game.
pull on that overall, flick the hairs of your brand new brush, tuck it into your pocket and follow me.
the streets are narrow, the hearts are wide.
you might be tempted to ride your bike, but dismount for the walk is faster done.
be good now, this town is made from lace. its ladies’ hands are nimble, fine edged and oh so lovely. they loop and dip, stitch and cross like a tight rope walker across a lake.
the shop fronts are delicate and tender, fronted with this white, beige and cream sieve like yarn.
the simplicty of this place is what lures you, holds your breath and leaves you wanting: no cars, no fuel, no options, just the corner cafe, the farmacia, the trattoria, your dinghy and the blue blue ocean all around.
spin, spin like a bottle top. colour will bombard your eyes, sway your world and leave you hanging, spinning, wanting more.
he will offer you a cigar, take it with a nod of the head: pull your chair closer. take in the village gossip as you ppppppp, pppffft out circles of smoke, clouding the evening air, thick and laden with humid coolness.
a village woman and her friends fill the air with moans and groans hidden in the curtained doorways. mutter your broken italian, a heart welcome will be offered, perhaps a toothless grin and most certainly a fly swatter too.
smell the crushed garlic permeating from every pore, inhale it deeply. the humidity intensifies it’s essence. balsamic black swirling in golden oil: dip your bread, feel the crumbs scatter across your skin. crush the salt between your teeth.
overalls splattered, energy spent, eyes wide from colour bursting forth like ripened fruit falling, lay your weary head down to sleep. a full moon across a pinpricked sky stares down at you as your boat bobs, bobs, bobs, lulling you to sleep.
this is burano. this is island life.
Images and post by Claire Haidar.
___________
Try your brush?
Write a poem of your own, based on a time when colour has burst into your life and surprised you, or with the concept of “colour symbolising hope”. tell us what you hope for and how as an artist you can create this in your life. post on your blog and link to us (we love that), or just drop your poems here in the comment box.
___________
Buy a year of Every Day Poems, just $5.99— Read a poem a day, become a better poet. In July we’ll be exploring the theme The Cento.
- Be Bold! Your Creativity Needs It - January 7, 2014
- Spin Creativity Book: A Ticklish Excerpt - December 18, 2013
- Using Lists To Prioritise Creativity In Your Diary - December 3, 2013
L. L. Barkat says
you did, you did!
stunning, Claire. 🙂
I want to keep going over these colors and these words…
Claire Burge says
Thank you Ma’am. Interestingly though, my favourite part of this town was actually seeing the village come alive that night when all the boats had departed back to the main island of venice. There are very few hotels and I did not see one bed and breakfast. We moored there for the evening and went meandering around the streets at 10:30pm. Everybody was out, the kids were playing, the women jabbering, the men smoking. It made me yearn for a small life again… but then I remembered my year of country living in a rural setting and quickly changed my mind : )
Maureen Doallas says
Who could live here and not smile every day?
Claire Burge says
such a good way to put it maureen…
there were many smiles all round for sure. i walked around a corner, trying to find my way to the canal and three little boys were playing marbles together.
i love that old fashioned fun still exists in the world!
Monica Sharman says
Take me there!
(Oh, you did!)
Claire Burge says
monica!
i was on your website this morning, telling a friend about you.
those fires… crazy crazy!
i am glad that you were there with me.
SimplyDarlene says
Miss Claire,
A person could
eat
this
color
explosion
with
a spoon
and smile. Smaller
utensils work
better,
because
joy
delight
crayon crazies
lasts ’til
way
past
noon. Especially
after that fat
ole cow
has jumped
over
the moon
with you-know
who.
Claire Burge says
ooh i love that opening line too much, like italian gelata!
shall we eat some together?
Chris Yokel says
I wrote this one back in the spring:
Green
Suddenly, I see it
has been slowly growing in
the periphery of my sight, budding
across my eyeballs, spurting
up in blades in my iris, shimmering
along my cornea, and I
staring all the while, never noticed
until now
that the world is green again.
Claire Burge says
oh the layers in this chris!
do you have green eyes?
there is the human element and then there is the nature element…
Chris Yokel says
Actually I do have hazel eyes. I didn’t even think of that when I was writing this poem 🙂
Claire says
interesting how we each see so differently…
Reno Lawrence says
I don’t come here enough, but this journey was well worth the vibrant fascination!
Claire Burge says
reno!
so happy to have made it worthwhile…
come again will you please?
and do share some of that vibrancy which only mr reno can give!
Lexanne Leonard says
Oh! Thank you for taking me on a glorious ride this morning. Lovely. Stunning. Such a feast. And the best of all, I can come back tomorrow, too. :0)
Claire Burge says
oh please do…
the coffee pot is always percolating.
can you smell it? the real italian blend.
Lexanne Leonard says
My favorite. I’ll be there.
Kimberlee Conway Ireton says
Claire, The colors in your photos! Glorious! And especially welcome on this cloudy gray July day. Thank you!
Claire says
Kimberlee, you mention those cloudy grey days: I sometimes drift through my photos on rainy days to remind me that somewhere in the world, the sun is shining and that someone is feeling happy because of it.
Donna says
I kept asking myself “is this all real? is it photo shop magic? who but a child who gets in trouble for coloring outside the lines would dare paint a whole town this way?” and when I wasn’t asking myself this question I was breathing in and out “I want to go there… even if it’s not real”. But it is real, isn’t it? I’m not sure why but it leaves me with a lump in my throat. What a beautiful amazing piece you have shared here – thank you so much.
Claire says
donna, this comment made me cry. i also stopped dead in my tracks when i saw this! it is a child’s playground in an adult world and i couldn’t get enough of it.
go, go if you can because it will change the fibres inside your heart.
Claire says
oh and i promise that it is real and not photoshopped at all. all i did in lightroom was tone down the glare because i chose to shoot at midday. : )
Donna says
Your photos are so beautiful! It was like a dream when my husband came home from work that day with wishes of his own…. I shared it on my “Brighter Side Blog” and I think you might get a kick out of the synchronicity! I used one of your photos, with credit, and I hope that’s okay. http://thebrightersideblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/synchronicity-and-italy.html
Marie Conklin says
Eye candy! I take it in, glorious, scrumptious, and sweetness ofyet another kind, touching on memories, flavors hidden in the past, cobalt prom dresses, blue lagoons, crimson cap and gown, yellow easter eggs, red choir robes strawberry and pistachio ice cream , and surely beyond the rainbows of our mind. Ahhhhh!
Claire says
‘cobalt prom dresses’
that image came to me most visibly!
Will Willingham says
Reminds me some of La Boca’s Caminito, the Tango district in Buenos Aires.
Well, except for the canals, of course. 🙂
But the colors, the sounds, the rest.
Beautiful, Claire. Thanks for the trip.
Claire says
!
you do make my feet itche even more than they already do… do you have any idea how badly i want to go to this part of cuba?
when did you travel there?
Claire says
*itch
Marie Conklin says
Claire, when I first saw the seduction of color, in your sharing of Italy, I was reminded of my own new discovery of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato Mexico. I was smitten by the life of color (and at 70, that is a good thing.) So much, that I returned
home with my husband, to Spokane WA, sold our stuff (it’s only stuff, I have learned)and house, to return to the pull of magical hues, because truly, it is layered with richness of life to be enjoyed. More eye candy with depth of many stories (history).
Claire says
Marie, you cannot share this story and not share images… Please share some with us?
Ann Kroeker says
I’m dancing through rows of a 64 pack of Crayola crayons! Thank you for inviting me to join you–I shall spin away vivified.
Rosanne Osborne says
http://poetryhawk.blogspot.com/2012/07/yellow.html
Claire says
rosanne, i hopped over to your place and commented there.
i love the ending, the brown, the contrast.
Charity Singleton says
This has made me want to paint my walks, my window frames, my furniture, EVERYTHING, with these wonderful colors. Seriously. What a beautiful place to visit and be.
My favorite part – the way the colors from the buildings bleed into the canals. You can’t keep color like that on the side of building. It goes with you.
Claire – so glad I found you here today.
L. L. Barkat says
Do it, Charity. I want to see it after you do 🙂
You won’t be able to keep color like that on the walls and furniture. It will go with you…
Kelly Sauer says
What L.L. said, Charity. I can’t wait to see where this takes you!
Claire says
and charity your ability to look beyond is what captured me… yes it did bleed into the canals.
the town’s voices also rippled over the water in the evenings which made the laughter ring out just that split second longer.
Lexanne Leonard says
Such delight inspires.
http://leximagines.com/2012/07/15/colors/
Claire says
lexanne,
this poem stopped me and sent a shiver through me.
it is multifaceted and one dimensional all at once. sad and hopeful. happy and angry.
it will come again to me, especially the words so starkly juxtapositioned in the piece.
’sallow’
’kimono’
’pyre’
’saffron’
’citrine’
Lexanne Leonard says
Thank you, Claire.
Kelly Sauer says
I feel like I’m spinning, reading this, seeing these colors fly past, all this life. I went to link to you this morning, Claire, and look what I found… Happy sigh.
This isn’t a poem, except in the way that life itself is a poem, and in the way color can shock you back to it. I hope it is still okay to share.
http://www.kellysauerblog.com/2012/07/17/mood-board-real-life-the-summer-and-the-wild/
Claire says
So happy to have you here in this space… You break rules with infinite grace you do ; )
jjarcho.biz says
Love the color on those buildings! They’re so nice to look at and so cool to the eyes. Great pictures!
Claire says
Thank you so much for the kind words about the photos! Really appreciate that!
JB Wood says
Oh! The mad, delicious colours!
Circling like technicolor crows
threatening to pluck out my eyes –
just punishment
for the indulgence,
the sheer delight
of taking in
so
much
light.
(well, this is the first thing to come to me at this early hour. Love love love the colors in the photos. I want to go there)
facebook integration says
Hi there, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just curious if
you get a lot of spam comments? If so how do you prevent it,
any plugin or anything you can suggest? I get so much lately it’s driving me insane so any support is very much appreciated.