The New Red

Orange is the new red
red without the blood
lips unstained
the fresh new feel of alarm
like candy gum drops
accenting everything.

It’s pillowy and tender
on a republican’s tie
friendly and wholesome
on the past and future first lady
standing at the podium
smiling blithely.

The old red has been washed clean
it’s too depressing
it makes us think of red cheeks
embarrassing stains on sheets
broken hearts,
the people we’ll never again see
and war.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: The Troll,

ironworkers have sayings for everything, some of which actually make sense. one of my favorites is brought to mind by the poem:
who are you gonna believe...me or your lying eyes?

for me, you subtly captured the blinders-wearing mentality prevalent in alot of people today who want their world presented in nice, pretty pictures so they can pretend the ugliness of the world is distant and unreal. personally, i think the best monument they could have to Sept 11th & the Trade Towers would have been to leave a the massive, horrible wreckage pile to remind us just how terrible it was. just like it think it's a major cop-out to disallow photographs of flag-draped coffins. up until recently, we've been sheltered here in the good ol' US of A and it's time to take off the blinders and see the real world we are a part of. and the most insidious people are the ones, mostly politicians, who tell people what they want to hear--that red is orange--so try to make us believe they're taking care of everything and we don't need to worry our silly little head about it...

now see there, ya got me all riled up. means it's a good poem, i'd say...

Absolutly Zoomie! I'm so happy I got you all up in this stuff! (You went just where I wanted you to go.) Thanks for responding to let me know you got it.

*has to laugh* The first time I read it, I didn't get it... all I kept thinking was, "No... orange is the new blue."

But this second reading... I got it. I got something different from it than zoomie did, but I still got it. I think the closing stanza is the one that highlights the points the most... and draws out the most emotion. I think everyone can identify or relate to each thing in there... even war, if not directly, indirectly.

I must admit, Nanzar, this was an interesting read. Not what I expected. Interesting idea.

~Gabber

Bloody hell! That was a good one!

L-O-V-E the whole second stanza. Great set up for the harsh reality to come. All those brilliant teeth trying to outshine the horror.

I also like embarrassing stains on sheets.

So much that is raw in this piece, but it reads so beautifully.

Timely.

I liked it. You made a really good statement. Honestly, I think the last line really wraps it all up & makes it hit home.

I felt that this poem wasn't quite done when I let it go. After hearing all of your responses I was inspired to persevere. Here is the outcome. As always I request honest criticism.(The first three stanzas remain the same)

The New Red

Orange is the new red
red without the blood
lips unstained
the fresh new feel of alarm
like candy gum drops
accenting everything,

It’s pillowy and tender
on a republican’s tie
friendly and wholesome
on the past and future first lady
standing at the podium
smiling blithely.

The old red has been washed clean
it’s too depressing
it makes us think of red cheeks
embarrassing stains on sheets
broken hearts,
the people we’ll never again see
and war.

There's also a new blue,
sky blue, the color of a president’s eyes
like a mirror of the sky
sending a quiet signal;
I’m harmless
don’t look at what I do.

If I could eat from that tie
and wear their orange
like a saffron robed monk
I’d be in paradise-
and I’d never have to think about
all the green
that this unseen red
really means.

I really like this new version Nanzar. Specially the whole bit at the end about the green. Cause money makes the world go round and the way to make the green is by spilling red nowadays. Just my take on it though.

Good work, keep it up.

I prefer the older version. The ideas were more compact.

This newer version weakens the impact of the piece, particularly the final line.

Introducing more colours dilutes it. Also, I think the point has already been made about the facade of politicians.

My two dinars.

Sara thanks for your input. That's so true about the green and I wanted to make that point clearer- even to myself.

ArgyI agree the first three stanzas get right to it. And I would keep it that way, but here in the US there is a wor of color going on- Bush, and therefor the rest of his gang, have all adopted this baby blue tie. It's never been a republican color. Just look at all Reagan's pictures, it's just red red red, like Nancy's favorite color dress.

They're trying to pull the blue (sic) over our eyes and make us think they are harmless! They're wearing democrat blue- only a shade lighter.

But the media has caught on and now you see it everywhere. I think that dilutes it a bit, but I still wanted to point it out.

Does that info about what we see here daily make any difference to the poem's impact to you or meaning? Just wondering...

i argree with Argy--i liked the original piece better. it's succinct & single-minded. i think the expanded version dilutes the overall impact. for me, the poem loses a beautiful subtlety when you extend the color scheme. maybe blue & green are different poems entirely...?

quote:

---

Originally posted by chefs do that...:
i argree with Argy--

---

that was accidental, but amusing so i'm not going to edit it...

easily amused,
zoom
(which reminds me. just where the hell did that damn long-winded German dude go, anyway...)

I argree, you argree, we all argree with ol' Argy!

Heh heh!

I have a firm belief, Nanzar, that if you need to explain a piece it's not doing its job.

All the stuff you used by way of explanation doesn't translate outside America. If you only want to appeal to Americans, so be it (although zoom seems not to like the second edition as much, either).

I think zoom's right and it's probably a good idea to do a separate 'Green' poem. How about a series of colours? Say red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.

Great ideas guys. I think the separate poems in a series is worth a try. Thank you so much for your honest input. I'm glad the first version would work for non-Americans at least.

I feel this is somewhat of a break-through poem for me because it gets at very raw feelings. I'm reading Sylvia Plath's poems right now and learning just how close to the inner world you can really go.

Thanks again for all your comments - and yea, where is that talkative German? I miss him!

le just came in and told me that the original quote, "who're you going to believe, me or your own two eyes?" is attributed to Groucho Marx. Richard Holbrook, former UN ambassador & some say potential Secretary of State under a Kerry administration, used it in much the same context as we have here--mainly in regard to Bush's accounting of the the situation in Iraq...