POETRY
Color Symbolism and Use in Poetry — What Do the Colors Mean?
A brief overview of color, color symbolism, and how it can be used in poetry and creative writing
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A word of introduction
Colors are the dream-wake state of poetry and creative writing. They link the subconscious intentions of a poem, its heartbeat or breathing, as I like to call it, to the surface of the poem for the reader to experience. Perhaps this is why so many poets prefer to call their poetic writing process a trance-like state. That creative space is somewhere between your waking mind, with thoughts, analyses, and interrupting cognitive functions, and the almost spiritual flow of poetry through one’s heart and onto paper. The colors of a poem, whether they be precisely named or implied, will filter through you, just like the actual poem does, as if you, yourself, are a prism.
Light cannot pass through a prism without creating color. A poem cannot pass from your mind into the world without picking up on the colors of you, the colors you envision, and also, a lot of other “baggage” that colors carry with them. Each hue has its own story to tell and you, dear writer, must…
