THREE BLUE POEMS

....the more south we were, the more deep a sky it seemed,
till, in the Valley of Mexico, I thought it held back an element
too strong for life, and that flamy brilliance of blue
stood off this menace and sometimes, like a sheath or
silky membrane showed the weight it held in sags.
Saul Bellow:from the Adventures
of Augie March


...and Bluebeard's Tower above the coral reefs,
the magic mousetrap closing on all points of the compass,
capping like petrified surf the furious azure of the bay,
where there is no dust and life is like a lemon-leaf,
a green piece of tough translucent parchment,
where the crimson, the copper, and the Chinese
vermillion of the poincianas
set fire to the masonry and turquoise blues refute the clock...
Marianne Moore:from
"People's Surroundings"


Turn blue on fast and it becomes purple; turn
purple on fast and it becomes black. Slow down
blue to get grey. Slow down grey to get white.
Blue is half-way between white and black; fulcrum
of light, hinge of darkness.
Malcolm de Chazal:from Sens Plastique