A Riot Of Colours! Poem by AtreyaSarma Uppaluri

A Riot Of Colours!

Rating: 3.9


(1)

Green leaves
gazing at red flowers
turn green with envy…

Red flowers
eyeing yellow fruits
turn red with anger…

Yellow fruits
seeing the green leaves
turn yellow from age…

(2)

White
looks askant at Black
and boasts:
“Look here, darkie!
I am the light
I am the purity
You’re grimy and gloomy! ”

(3)

Not to be outdone
Black taunts back:
“O wily White!
You’re full of pallor
with no originality.”

Black goes on to brag:
“East or west, Black is best
North or south, Black has worth.”

(4)

“Hey, you, Brown,
in our estimate you’re always down
for you’re neither here nor there, ”
so Black and White vent their spleen.

Hearing it,
bang launches Brown
an offensive self-defence:
“I am the colour of the earth
and so of the creative world of wood
Why, aren’t your bread and bakes brown?
Then on your faces why such a frown? ”

Continues Brown his acid vaunt:
“When brown is such a crown
it doesn’t lie in your mouth
to brown me off.”

(5)

The colours, thus, run riot
and splash and lash
to show their true colours,
as if they are in a world
that is coloured, and not colourful.

(6)

Then, all of a sudden…
all the quarrelling colours came to a halt
as an Oracle beamed across and reverberated:
“Hark, my dear ones, and mark my words.
You’re no foes to one another
You’re siblings, the offspring of the Same.
Forget not that you’re all symbols of harmony.
Just look up, high up into your mirror! ”…

(7)

Illumining so, the Oracle vanished
leaving all the colours lavished
with…
The Divine Rainbow.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Obinna Eruchie 15 October 2009

You gave those plants the psychological and racial characteristics of the human race represented by their colours.

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Chris G. Vaillancourt 15 October 2009

lovely words chosen carefully

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Samanyan Lakshminarayanan 15 October 2009

a lovely conversation between the colors of the objects...done very well..the jealousy and who is bigger stands out in this poem...and that is a 'grey' shade..you could write one in which these compliment each other...a great read...10

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AtreyaSarma Uppaluri 17 October 2009

Nalini, The implicit message of my poem is the basic equality of the various races of the Homo sapiens. Regarding the superior and inferiority complexes, what I feel is, they are the two sides of the same coin, for they have to do with the levels of confidence. Confidence (not over-confidence) coupled with a little love and understanding, and diffidence if sublimated to humility…would be positive and infectious virtues. This is my humble perception.

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Anusha Subramanian 17 October 2009

Lovely chosen words.. Wonderful poem.. A great write.. :)

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Nalini Hebbar 16 October 2009

a reminder for the oneness of the human race...feeling superior is forgiveable ...attribute it to human weakness...but unforgivable is a feeling of Inferiority...no human being should punish themselves in this manner...regards

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Chris G. Vaillancourt 15 October 2009

This is an amazing poem... Very well crafted..

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Gold Fish 15 October 2009

This poem is a fresh foray into the racial/ethnicity issues that have long plagued society. The author utilizes tactful language, creative botanical analogies and cultural knowledge to highlight a fundamental problem that may never be fully resolved. I am looking forward to reading more of your work. Thanks for sharing. 10+

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AtreyaSarma Uppaluri

AtreyaSarma Uppaluri

Hyderabad, AP, India
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