Writers Circle Prompt: Red

 
1.    Red shoes
2.    Red dress
3.    redress
4.    Red sky in the morning
5.    Danger
6.    Stop
7.    Red roses
8.    Love
9.    Valentines
10.   Red pen
11.   Fresh blood
12.   Aggression
13.   Passion
14.   Scarlet
15.   Seeing red
16.   Red car
17.   Red sox
18.   Red hat
19.   Red nail polish
20.   Red shawl
21.   Red hair
22.   In the red
23.   Red crayon
24.   Red states and blue states
25.   The Reds
26.   Cardinal
27.   Cincinnati
28.   Robin red-breast
29.   Red carpet
30.   Hollywood
31.   Tomatoes
32.   Apples
33.   Strawberries
34.   Raspberries
 

source

 Seeing Red

Clearly there’s not enough red in my life.  I brainstormed for 25 minutes on the topic, and came up with 33 red items and associations that I have no story about at all, things like red dress, red nail polish, red carpet, fresh blood, red states, and cardinals.

I owned a red car once during the time I was an assistant professor at the College of William and Mary.  I was stopped by the police 2x in it for speeding.  I argued that I was going the same speed as everyone else, but was stopped because my car was red.  No one listened.  I paid the tickets and that was that.    I have a red shawl that I use as a throw for a living room chair.  It was not a gift but an impulsive purchase.  There are no stories here.

I have never been "a red"—neither communist nor a fan of the Red Sox, Cardinals or Cincinnati reds.   I love cardinals, the bright bird of winters in the northeast.  I love red raspberries, red apples, and red skies. 

Red morning skies mean danger or bad weather.  Red alerts.  I put red Band-Aids on scratches to hide the angry red blood.   I wish band-aids could stop death from aggression and war, but others say “No more Band-Aids.  We want a real solution.”  Yes.  Just the same, I wish they’d stop on all sides.  I draw their blood with red crayons. 

I edit poems with red pens.  Red is the color of passion, of love, of valentines, of roses (though I prefer yellow ones).  Red is the color of the carpet that honors royalty and sets off the clothing of Hollywood film stars. 

There is more red in my life than there is yellow or orange.  You see it in my clothes and my living room rug and chairs. 

No apologies.
Red bursts on the scene and stops
movement. Then turns green.
 

© 2025 Susan L. Chast

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