Hailstones and Halibut Bones, Mary O'Neill | 59 pages

For colors dance,

And colors sing,

And colors laugh,

And colors cry - 

Turn off the light

And colors die,

And they make you feel

Every feeling there is,

From the grumpiest grump

To the fizziest fizz.

First published in 1961, this is a collection of poems inspired by colors. Each begins with the question, "What is (gray, yellow, red, etc)?" O'Neill then responds with a variety of abstract and concrete answers. We used this as a prompt at my poetry workshop to inspire patrons writing their own color poems.

The meter and rhyme patterns can be clunky, which isn't my favorite, but I enjoyed this collection overall.