Jeannie E. Roberts (Colours of Love and Barriers)

Jeannie E. Roberts

Jeannie E. Roberts has authored seven books. Her most recent collection, As If Labyrinth – Pandemic Inspired Poems, was released in 2021 by Kelsay Books. Her eighth book, The Ethereal Effect – A Collection of Villanelles, is forthcoming from Kelsay Books (2023). She’s an artist, animal lover, a nature enthusiast, a Best of the Net award nominee, and a poetry editor of the online literary magazine Halfway Down the Stairs. 

Pools, Pelicans, and the Frolic of Breeze

It is time for parents to teach young people early on 

that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. ―Maya Angelou 

Where the frolic of breeze scintillates like diamonds, 

pelicans bob amid the sparkling drifts, nod in a pod of buoyancy. 

My son and I watch the radiance as it winks in painterly clusters. 

As if galaxies, they coalesce into swirls of distinction. 

We name them vibe pools, 

where brilliance exists in wheels of welcoming light. 

Morning’s luster offers resonance 

until the winds of prevalence engulf the dance. 

My essence shivers with the gray familiarity of pursuit, 

recognizes the ancestral eradication of difference, 

knows the postfire residue as it settles 

within the ashen restrictions of the status quo. 

When human ripples upset a flat surface, 

prompt a vibrational disturbance, 

I think about diversity, 

its expression and the preservation of its existence. 

How does unlikeness find equity, 

remain illuminated within the influence of sameness? 

How many generations will exhale 

before variety is accepted as mainstream? 

As my son and I ponder the luminosity of the universe, 

we’re reminded of our genetic material, 

the coded information of our being. 

We follow the bright orbits, 

value the generosity of expanse, 

find strength and beauty 

in the scope of nature as well as humankind. 

Where the frolic of breeze scintillates like diamonds, 

pelicans bob amid the sparkling drifts, nod in a pod of buoyancy. 

We watch the pale complexion of conformity roll across the lake 

as it swallows the vibe pools, erases the last trace of animated light.

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Colours of Love :: Setu, July 2022