Blue: A List

 

 
 
Ink that’s so dark blue it flirts with turning black on the page as you write.
 
The stiff feel of new denim, especially the type used to make carpenter’s trousers.
 
The blue sound stiff denim makes when it brushes together unexpectedly.
 
The stimulating syllables of the word “midnight,” used in a sentence, to describe a hue I adore.
 
The unmistakable color of Blue Note Records Blue.
 
Clouds and sky as drawn by children everywhere.
 
An azure silk scarf, looped gently around my neck, to bring color to my eyes and face on a rain-drenched day.
 
The still-water blue of the walls of my bedroom, tinged with a metallic wash to give it depth and pop.
 
Dreams with blue objects— a coat, a dog, a song, a book. Then, waking with a start to a cool room and the timpani song of thunder.
 
An old cerulean cloth-covered book with a broke-down spine and faded silver lettering. The sure blue weight of it in your hands.
 
Blue, when used as a word to describe a mood, evokes a feeling both languid and sad as a rumpled bed.
 
Tattoos in the style of antique woodblock prints, faded an old, almost ancient blue, flashing from a sleeve during an overheard animated conversation.
 
Periwinkle-dyed children’s clothes are charming and soothing, but the same color is a disconcerting jangle as a choice for a dessert plate.
 
Billie Holiday’s voice singing round and tight on her rendition of “Blue Moon.”
 
 

 

Blue moon, I'm no longer alone.  Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.

 
 
For more lists from The Bluebird Pillow Book, please click the link on the left-hand side of this post.

Or, if you would like to read about pillow books in general, you may want to check out my Mash Note to Sei Shōnagon..

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