Saturday, May 11, 2013

Red Vehicles

Blog block again today - writer's block for bloggers. Nothing jumped out at me by way of an idea for a blog this morning and I am sure that this happens to a lot of writers. I warmed a little to the idea of writing about body parts that were named after people, such as, Adam's Apple and Achilles' Heel - I am not sure that Vagina Monologues were listed :) in the huge list I saw on Wikipedia.  I decided that I would actually have had to write on every one individually to do them justice. This is a project for another day or another year.

What kept running around in my head, though, was a corruption of a line from a poem by William Carlos Williams,

The Red Wheel Barrow

so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.

I kept remembering it as:

"So much can be said about a red wheel barrow beside white chickens." No doubt I was looking for a blog topic, something simple that I could write "so much" about. I kept asking myself, "where is this mother load of writing that one should be able to find in an image of a red wheel barrow and chickens?"

I know of bloggers, who keep chickens and write a lot about them. Amy Young Miller even named her blog Vomiting Chicken. Sadly I live in the city where chicken farming is outlawed. I do have a wheel barrow, but it's green and my livestock - cats are black. I needed a lunch break.

As I walked to get a sandwich, the blog started to come together. I passed a few items that were red and I thought OK you might not necessarily depend on these things, but maybe you could say something interesting about them, in the style of W.C.W. Here is the first item - 


How about - "So much can be said about a red stove in front of an antique shop beside a white table." I'm warming up. I have to wonder whether this is really a stove. Where did it come from? Who owned it? What did it do? Where is it going and Who made it? Yes, if you could answer all these questions you would have a post.


Here's another, a red scooter. It had just rained so, this vehicle has been "glazed by rain," it's red, there is not a chicken in sight, unless you count me because I am not the sort who would ride a motorized cycle, although I admire all who do!!

Finally another vehicle, quite removed from the wheel barrow.


Somehow I can't see this in a barn yard with chickens of any colour. I think I'll call this collection Street Poetry. We have red; we have rain; we have vehicles; we don't have chickens, but do we have poetry?

The Red Vehicles

So much depends
upon
a series of pictures
in red
polished by rain
showers
on grey city 
streets.

Yup, we do :)

Have a great day!!

4 comments:

  1. Great, great post. Interesting how a blog comes together. Nice take on the red poem. I have a series of red photos from my last visit to England - red mailboxes. Always enjoy your site!

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  2. To me, small convertible red cars equal men's middle age crisis. So the association with chicken is utterly funny. :-)

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  3. Hmm maybe that is what I need to do next time I'm stuck for something to write...go for a walk and see what I can find...I'll take the red car though please

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  4. I love the way blogs just come to you when you are simply waking around and breathing in your surroundings. This is an arc d' triumph - Fab car !

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