“All Yellow (Morgan Hill)” by Teresa Dunn
Yellow Bird
I remember when you told me,
“You’ll never amount to nothin’,
just like your ma, too damned mouthy.”
At ten, I cried; believed you then.
High school, when they said I had skills,
I remember when you told me,
“It don’t matter, school ain’t the streets.”
Yet I wouldn’t put my brush down.
College girl life, summer-beach lounged,
Dressed with brash, stretching horizons,
I remember when you told me,
“World beats down on smart, pretty girls.”
Far from home, now I understand,
my canary in the coal mine,
a dead bird singing in my ear.
I’ll always remember, Grandma.
modified quatern form
I am today’s host of dVerse’ Open Link Night. I have given poets the option of writing ekphrastic poetry to one of two images, or to link up one poem of their choosing.
Tao Talk 
That is a wonderful, love how you used the canary image, that reminder that it’s always going to be hard to be that smart pretty girl…
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Bjorn, thank you. I think back to when Grandma was the smart pretty girl. I think things can be different for the granddaughters of today.
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a brilliant denouement Lisa
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Laura, thank you.
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I love this journey for this strong and smart woman, despite her challenges. The ending verses punches with the dead bird singing in my ear. Thank you for hosting!!!!
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Grace, thank you very much. You are welcome, my friend.
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It is difficult to watch a girl who is all things and not be happy
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<3
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Somehow you captured perfectly the ironically sad face of the woman in such sunshine.
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Maybe it’s because Grandma remained caged until the end… Thank you, Brendan, appreciate you taking time with the image and the poem.
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These lines jumped out: College girl life, summer-beach lounged,
Dressed with brash, stretching horizons and the canary in the coal mine part gave me goosebumps.
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Colleen, happy you connected with the poem.
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I get the feeling that all those warnings only energised this artist and yet the ultimate understanding of them seems to show in her expression – well interpreted Li…
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Andrew, I think you’re right. Thank you so much.
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I like what you did with the painting, Lisa. Very well done. The canary in the coal mine is a nice touch!
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Dwight, thank you very much.
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Lessons learned and earned. (K)
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I love how you paint a woman who believes in herself, in spite of what Granny says.
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Nolcha, I’m glad you see what I was trying to get at. Thank you very much. She is a bright spot in the world.
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I’m glad that her grand daughter had a better fate. That’s a great Ekphrastic poem. Thanks for hosting 😊
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Shweta, thank you so much for your kind comment.
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Pleasure 😊
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Grandma loved to warn…sometimes that inspires.
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Good synopsis, Max!
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You nailed it with the last stanza.
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Reena, thank you.
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This is such a tragic poem, Lisa.
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The tragedy that comes with living. Thank you so much, Robbie.
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Yes, indeed
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Well….that was truly a wonderful read. What a good way to do it, to provide a back story…I tried and tried but could not get a suitable verse together, so value what I read all the more.
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Ain, thank you very much.
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A brilliant poem my friend
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Many thanks, my friend.
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🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼
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I enjoyed your ekphrastic modified quatern, Lisa, especially the first person speaker, direct address, and the chatty tone. I especially love the lines:
‘College girl life, summer-beach lounged,
Dressed with brash, stretching horizons’
and the poignant ending.
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Kim, thank you very much. Glad you enjoyed the poem.
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My pleasure, Lisa.
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You captured the expression on her face so well, Li! I like how you worked in the bird, as well.
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Merril, thank you very much. To me, the bird is key.
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You’re welcome, Li!
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You’re welcome :)
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Thank you for taking me with you on this personal [empowering] journey with you. Beautifully crafted! And thank you for the challenge, even though I still have not completed that poem I am writing.
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You are very welcome and thanks much. I liked the witch poem you linked up very much!
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Nice to see that piece of art again, and your write went right along with it.
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Chris, you have a good memory, and it is a memorable artwork. Thank you so much.
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I was sure I had seen it before, too! The writing does work well with it.
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Thank you, Steve.
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:-) Of course !!!! :-)
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I like the “been there, done that” edginess to the face in the picture and you have captured that so well in your poem Lisa. 🙂💕
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Thank you for the beautiful comment, Christine.
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With encouragement like that, life gets damned difficult to get airborne. My adoptive mother had a litany of those lead balloons she’d throw at me. I worked hard all my life to prove her wrong… and I did for decades, then failing health brought me down. Maybe it was a twisted kind of motivation. 🫤 …but you my friend, just ignore that shit — you are shining like a star Li (sa)… ✌🏼🫶🏼
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Rob, my mom was vicious like that also. Remember that song, “A Boy Named Sue”? The kid goes through a living hell but at the end, he can get through anything. In my perspective on Grandma, she was never allowed to succeed and had been hurt so much she was trying to prepare her granddaughter to survive the kind of life she grew up with, never realizing her granddaughter would have so many more options than she ever did. I appreciate your kind words, Rob, but I’m a survivor just like you. Love you, my friend <3
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Full of pathos, memory and a yellow bird daring to break free in spite of the warning from beyond the grave, the “canary in the coal mine.” I love that it is art, her creativity, that is the means of that freedom and understanding.
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Thanks much, Dora!
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A nice, interesting take on the image.
That first stanza sure is a little saddening. I hear teachers say this to their students sometimes and I feel like telling them that they should do their job better then!
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Thank you. When my oldest was a first-grader he had a teacher that loved to target and put down the boy students. Her name was Mrs. Pickle. At parent-teacher conference I tore her a new one. That was her last year of teaching.
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Mrs Pickle is a great teacher name. Sounds like her only saving grace though!
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She may have just been tired of teaching after that many years, but I was not going to tolerate her treating my son like he was more trouble than anything else.
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Wonderful 🌺
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thanks!
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