The Yellow Kite

The Yellow Kite

written by: Jude Neale

Have you ever watched
a yellow kite dip and twirl
before a blazing blue sky?
Fleeting memories of
Biarritz,
an open scorched field.
You, at three,
pumping your legs,
as you rode
the wind.
My son your being
was held aloft too,
And I, eight months
pregnant, wishing
this kite could be a
beacon for new
beginnings.
The one tattooed to my
heart, and the other
becoming a fingerprint,
A shamal of hot wind and
the absorption of a small
boy. I don’t remember if he
let go and let it slip
through his fingers or if it
propelled
my son to greatness.
This chance to see the
ordinairy— the baguette,
the cheese, the bottle
of Spanish red wine laid
on the Mexican blanket.
The tow-headed child
waving and shouting.
Freezing this moment like
Gretel’s bread, always
leading us back
to the beginning.
Like a bag of marbles
spilling into the saffron
dust.
Who knows
where we’ll land?
The kite. Me.
Our joy, remained
fastened, to our
memories, floating
in a blinding halo of sun.
We are the child’s
bus-yellow kite.
And the collector of a
frisson of dreams.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

I bought a yellow kite for my grandson which made me think of my own son which brought back memories of him running pell mell through a dusty scorched field above Biarritz. Freedom is what I wanted each child to feel.

Please leave this field empty

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• About
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Jude Neale

Jude Neale has written twelve collections of poetry, and is an opera singer, mentor, educator, workshop organizer and facilitator, mother, grandmother, and wife. She first published when she was eight, winning a youth competition on travel for the CBC, and has been writing professionally since 2006. Her book, A Quiet Coming of Light, was a finalist for the League of Canadian Poets Pat Lowther Award and her manuscript, Splendid in its Silence, won publication in the UK. Jude’s poem, Blue Bowl, was finalist for the prestigious Irish Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Award, and her poem, Emptiness in the Garden, was chosen by Britain’s Poet Laureate, Sir Andrew Motion, to ride the buses in the Channel Islands for a year. Jude frequently collaborates with artists from many disciplines, bringing her command and sensitivity of language to their communal creations.

Latest posts by Jude Neale (see all)

• The Yellow Kite - August 1, 2024
• The Blaze of the Universe - May 22, 2024
• Winter Solstice - February 17, 2024