A List Of "Beautiful" Words: Red

Irish Spring

a raspy laugh, sharp as cheap soap a mind's movie on a honey-smacked whorl

Drown In It

windows open season. waking up to birdsong season. smelling the dewy grass season. twirling in a long skirt season. life feels worth living again season. taking all of my meals outside of possible season. reasoning how far I can get by bike ride and pedaling out anyway season.

A List of "Beautiful" Words: Variegation

Variegation—diversity of colors

Bar code - variously patterned bars and spaces

Barber pole - diagonal stripes of red and white or of red, white, and blue

Butterfly - brightly colored

Calico - blotched or spotted, predominantly white with red and black patches

Candy cane - red and white

Chameleon - changing colors

Checkerboard - having two alternating colors

Cheetah - yellowish to tan coat covered with numerous round to oval black spots

Confetti - brightly colored

Crazy quilt - patchwork without a design; colorful, jumbled

Dalmatian - white with many black or brown spots

Harlequin - a variegated pattern; a combination of patches on a solid ground of contrasting color (as in the coats of some dogs)

Iris - rainbow colored

Jaguar - brownish yellow or buff with black spots

Joseph's coat - having many colors; with variegated foliage

Kaleidoscope - variegated changing colors or patterns

Leopard - tawny or buff with black spots arranged in rosettes

Mackerel sky - a sky covered with rows of altocumulus or cirrocumulus clouds resembling the patterns on a mackerel's back

Marble - veined or mottled appearance

Moire - wavy watered appearance

Mother-of-pearl - iridescent

Nacre - mother-of-pearl; iridescent

Ocelot - tawny-yellow or grayish coat dotted and striped with black

Opal - iridescent play of colors

Patchwork quilt - various colors and shapes

Peacock - tipped with iridescent spots

Rainbow - a multicolored array

Serpentine - usually dull green and often mottled

Shot silk - two or more colours producing an iridescent appearance

Spectrum - a continuum of color

Stained glass - colored glass

Tapestry - characterized by complicated pictorial designs

Tortoise shell - mottled brown and yellow coloring

Watered-silk - pattern like that of silk subjected to watering

Zebra - patterned in stripes of black or dark brown and white or buff

More: Lists of Beautiful Words ⚜ Word Lists ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

The ducks by Stonegate

A pair of mallards sits on a

Manicured stone by an

Artificial fountain

Ah, the massive continuity of ducks

Here there be lakes,

(Or ponds, or even fountains)

Here there be ducks.

Soaps

As a child I used to pray that I would get cancer

What my young eyes saw as an illness of honor

An illness that people rally behind

I wanted to have people who were proud of me for putting up a good fight

I wanted my suffering to be visible, less shameful

I yearned for someone to see me and know that I was hurting

I wanted doctors, church goers, my family, anyone at all to try to save me

So I prayed

And prayed

And prayed

I never got cancer

And I spent years saving myself

Now I’m an adult with a graduate degree and a mission

I will be the person who sees the child who is silently begging for help

I will be the one who tries their hardest to offer treatment

Because no child should suffer in silence

Praying for a death sentence so they can be seen

the lover’s almanac : part one.

There's no shame in collecting

Pretty things in an ugly world

Prisoners are allowed their pictures

Hoard your joy there, tooth to cheek

Your smiles are stolen secrets

This land does not deserve

I Take Pictures of Flowers

Who:

For my love, to make her smile

When a purple blossom makes

Me think of her favorite color.

For my Tumblr followers when

I post proof of my wilderness walks.

For my soul, so I might revisit these

Moments of awe and beauty.

For these,

I take pictures of flowers.

What:

A moment caught in my

Binary bug net,

A digital trace of my travels,

A daily commute or intentional stroll.

And along the way,

I take pictures of flowers.

Where:

My cloud storage fills

To the brim, and I deign to

Empty a single pixel.

Yellow, then red warnings of

Limited space,

But still,

I take pictures of flowers

Why:

To preserve what I cannot

Trust myself to remember.

Every detail, every shimmer on

A petal, every ring of color,

Every fold and roll and pleat.

To replace what I cannot have;

With no box or garden or

Sun-exposed pot,

I can only hold onto these beauties

In digital form.

When:

The golden hours escape me,

But they are probably sour grapes,

A cast of yellow hue on a face,

Not meant for leaf or colored bract.

Nay, whenever the feeling hits,

I pull out my device.

No process or plan in mind,

I snap one or two decent photos

And continue on my way.

Moment by moment

I take pictures of flowers.

How:

Only carefully, gently,

Holding the camera as I would

Carry a basket of down.

Motionless, I hold my breath and

Press the button.

My phone, with the help

Of an AI worth my trust,

Or with my moderately expensive

Camera I would like to buy

A macro attachment for.

I know not the specifics of how

My precious ladies make it onto

Film or image, but even so

I take pictures of flowers.