Pink Skies

By Jillian Shields

Pink Skies - A Collection of Poetry

 

Pink Skies is about how life can be experienced differently depending on your perception. The title and theme reflect the 'pink sky at night' proverb; the same sky is always different depending on when you look at it. This is a collection of poetry about life's experiences from love, to loss, to hope.

When the sun rises and sets, it is lower down in the sky and passes through more air. The light has further to travel. Blue light can't travel very far so it dissipates before it reaches us. Pink and red light has longer wavelengths, so travels further to reach us, creating the beautiful pink and red skies.

The theme carries through the different phases of the changing sky and aligns each stage with life experiences as a way to make sense of and relate to our feelings.

The book's four parts take you through each phase:

Part One: Seeing the Skies at Night
Poems about Reflection, Love, Meetings and Encounters, Calm, Peace

Part Two: Seeing the Skies in the Morning
Poems about Love, Loss, Despair, Anger, Weakness

Part Three: Between Skies
Poems about Dreams, Writing, Life, Observations, Thoughts

Part Four: Turning Pink
Poems about Beauty, Determination, Gratitude, Hope, Experiences


About the Author:
Jillian Shields is an author, coach and poet who writes about finding 'something more' in life. She likes to think about things from different perspectives and helps others to do that through coaching and writing. When not writing, she likes to get outside to Scotland's hills and coasts. She also loves to learn about and try new things.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jillian Shields
• Release date: May 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781739800833

Book preview

PART ONE –

Seeing the Skies at Night

I. REFLECTION

Pink Skies

Thoughts whirl freely,

Netted by minds below,

Watered down and released,

Swimming upwards.

Made at The Creation,

Some may forever be unthought,

Wriggle upwards to the deepest depths

Where the nets of humanity will never reach.

Some will enter one head

And never leave, nurtured

and fertilised,

Unknown to all others.

And some have been made many times,

Reproduced for every human

To catch their own.

It’s Like…

Inky clouds slithering from a platinum sun,

Wiping the last stains from the sky,

Velvet curtains swinging back

Revealing an empty new stage.

A satin bird gliding over an ocean,

Invisible strings tied to its feet,

Which pull along each wave

And tumble them gently on the beach.

Lines of maple leaves,

Walking, like hands, along their branches,

Waving in the breeze,

Ruffling like ruby scarves.

Air’s silence,

Waltzing through trees and rivers,

Giving sounds and partnering

Each leaf to dance.

A shivering flame,

Drawing pebbles around its coldness,

And breathing heat

Which spirals onwards.

It’s like…hope.

II. LOVE

Stems

I know you love me.

Each little thing you do

is like a luscious, lime green

stem,

sliding into a pure glass vase.

At the base lies the glassy

water of your love,

Constant…

And though droplets may

evaporate,

each tender word

you whisper to me

Refills it

to the brim.

And you will slide those

green stems

through once more.

Contentment

Soothed by sunlight,

we lie under rippling leaves,

green as emeralds,

precious as these moments.

Life’s stresses

sucked in by the sun,

its lingering fingers

massage beautifully.

Time slows to wisps of air,

an ebbing trail,

curling side by side,

trailing over us like fringes.

As two souls,

we beam our

thoughts and

feelings upwards,

like two stalks of light,

decorated by birds,

clustered and

dancing like flies.

Reflection.

From sky’s blue mirror,

one powerful

spark of ignited light

dazzles our eyes

and filters down us,

spilling as a puddle

of shimmering gold.

Line of Hearts

If love could be translated into everyday language,

it should be a line of hearts.

Not too large, palm-sized maybe,

and a soft pink rather than red.

For each glance at the eyes of a loved one,

out would pop a few hearts,

liquid and fragile like bubbles,

dusting along in the still air.

Every loving action would conjure up

Dozens of them, growing and floating…

Wouldn’t you love to kiss surrounded by pink?

And even if you were too slow to look before they popped,

You’d see the colour out the corner of your eye

and feel this gentle fabrication

of love.

Deepening

Us meeting is the one toe

I put in to test the water.

Our first date is both feet,

And those few seconds

of transmission from

feet to brain

is post date analysis.

Maybe, as I lower my legs,

the sudden shock of cold

will prise me out of the water,

shivering and drying off

all traces.

Or maybe it will be pleasant.

Maybe I will slide like light

into the padded waters,

Comfortable and content,

Take your hand

and we’ll plunge together.

You, in Some Form

Many things remind me of you,

And, though you might not understand how,

I can compare them to you.

Like ink, you are constant and loving,

Like a precious stone, you are interesting,

and exciting, and colourful.

You are treasurable,

Even a key reminds me of you,

how you can unlock inner parts of me

and lock them away again.

Simmering

The sun lights its gas,

Bluey flames flash over the sky,

The heat begins.

We lie, pale as cakes,

Lumps of dough

as yet unkneaded.

The clock’s hands turn

like cooker knobs and

the gas marks heighten.

We start to brown,

our eyes juicy currants,

intoxicated by the heat.

Our cooking scents waft together,

twirling like whisks,

exchanging.

We flavour one another,

deepening in colour,

with increasing resemblance.

And at the end of the day,

we are put out on a metal tray

to cool.

In the sensuous evening,

under iced stars,

Cling-filmed by night.

Flames

Once you’ve lit one flame,

it lengthens and rises,

glowing

tall.

Then it starts flapping

its