Recently I took part in Beth Kempton’s online Summer Writing Sanctuary. During one of the classes along the theme of the colour blue, Beth introduced her virtual students to a tool that measures the intensity of blue in the sky. A cyanometer is a circular instrument invented in 1789 by Horace-Benedict de Saussure, a Swiss physicist. There are 53 different shades of blue on a traditional cyanometer and the device helped early meteorologists to determine that the moisture levels in the atmosphere impacted the colour of the sky.
The writing lesson for the day included writing a poem based on the theory of the segments of the cyanometer. Cyanometric poetry?…. not really sure what you would call it but here’s my study in blue. (start reading in a clockwise direction from the small arrow back to the cell with the arrow)
Blue Eyes
And for those who can’t read my handwriting…..
Baby blue eyes
Watching clear blue skies
Endless blue horizon
Ocean waves crash ashore
Blue umbrellas fill the beach
Blue deckchairs too.
Summer scents of sunscreen on the air
My blue Coppertone spray just visible in my bag
A little girl in a blue spotted bikini
And a little boy in blue shorts
Play in the waves
Their blue bucket and spade forgotten in the sand,
Under a blue umbrella, mother watches
A book open on her lap
Never truly relaxed even at the beach
As she watches her children with
Baby blue eyes.
Coral McCallum 