Blue (a Ghazal)
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Am dreaming of eggs laid by blue-
birds; am seeing the Mediterranean sea
when I close my eyes—the Italian azure blue
color calls me again, in hidden caves & pools,
& this would never make me feel blue.
Happiness to me feels like fluffy, silver feathers
drifting lazily in the pines, touching the blue
sky above, on the prettiest summer day ever made.
But where has Summer gone? I hold fragments of blue
glass & pottery stone, trying to piece together
that moment I felt the most invincible, a true-blue
friend—a lover of all things. Will I ever feel that way again?
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Pink (a Ghazal)
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She was a quilter. Every scrap of cloth: yellow, blue, green, pink
& all pastel shades in-between were fair game, silks
became sown flowers; ginghams into dancing people. Her pink
cheeks grew redder with delight as she placed patterns piecemeal;
her full attack was held after Valentine’s Day. An old hot pink
negligee took center stage: a careless reminder of a love affair
soured by time. The shade was too beautiful to waste. Ribbons were quickly pink-
ed with sharp shears, along with white lace, sown into a broken heart.
“I will do better,” she promised herself. She still had dreams of knitting pink
booties–will a girl child ever join the crew? Only time would tell—
but this break-up quilt must be finished soon. Life goes on! Besides, she still saw life with pink
glasses, perfect orange marmalade sunsets & candy-colored clouds. It gets better.
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Born in Norman, Oklahoma, Carrie Magness Radna is an archival audiovisual cataloger at the New York Public Library, an Associate Editor of Brownstone Poets, a singer, a lyricist-songwriter and a poet who loves to travel. Her poems have previously appeared in Muddy River Poetry Review, Spillwords.com, Alien Buddha Press, Cajun Mutt Press, The Rye Whiskey Review, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Jerry’s Jazz Musician, First Literary Review-East, et al. Prizes: “all trains are haunted” (Non-rhyming poetry: Honorable Mention)and “May (a Pantoum)” (Rhyming poetry: Honorable Mention), both from the 89th and 90th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition. Chapbooks: Conversations with dead composers at Carnegie Hall (Flutter Press, now defunct: 2019) and Remembering you as I go walking (Boxwood Star Press, self-published). Poetry collections: Hurricanes never apologize (Luchador Press: 2019) and In the blue hour (Nirala Publications: February 2021). She lives in Manhattan, New York with her husband Rudolf. https://www.carriemagnessradna.com
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