Friday Writings #48: Red

Red for danger. Seeing red. Roses are red, violets are blue. Woman in Red. The Red Shoes. Red as a power colour. Red lipstick. Red nail polish. Little Red Riding Hood. Snow White, Rose Red. Red as blood. Red-blooded. Red hot. Red Hot Chili Peppers. Red sails in the sunset….

What does the colour red mean to you?

I belong to a photography group on facebook, one where the idea is to have fun rather than display technical expertise. (That suits me! I’ve always turned my hobbies into professional skills, but I’ll never be a sufficiently expert photographer – I am grateful for what my smart phone makes possible –  so at last I have a hobby that will stay a hobby.)

Each month we have a different set of themes, and this month one of them is Red, so I've become very conscious of where red appears in my world. It’s Spring in Australia now, even though a wet and reluctant one, and I’m enjoying all the colourful blooms, including lots of red ones. (Here are my own red geraniums in a red pot.) But of course autumn, in the northern hemisphere, has its own shades of red.

 

Your (optional) prompt this week is to write about the colour red – whether you choose to write about the reds in nature, treat red symbolically, be inspired by a song or story title referring to the colour, or anything else that occurs to you. (And you are also free to ignore the prompt altogether and share something else.)

You may give us poetry or prose, old or new, no longer than 369 words please, and just one post per person. Link to it below, and we’d love it if you’d also link to us on your blog. If you'd like to, leave us a comment here too, to say hello, ask a question, report a problem....

Next week, Magaly will invite us to write poetry or prose inspired by one (or more) of the following scary quotes:

“There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand.”
~ Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

“I must confess to you: I’m giving serious thought to eating your wife”
~ Hannibal, by Thomas Harris

“I think perhaps all of us go a little crazy at times.”
~ Psycho, by Robert Bloch

“Grownups are the real monsters.”
~ It, by Stephen King

“Blood is really warm, it’s like drinking hot chocolate but with more screaming.”
~ Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry for Your… Brains, by Ryan Mecum