Hi All! This is my first poetics prompt on Dverse. To be honest, I cannot still believe that I am actually doing it. When I read the very first post in here, I wondered how cool it must be for the bartender to host such an event. It was almost two years back. So today is indeed great moment for me.

Last week Grace told us to write about colors. I am sure all of us had fun writing for it. I wanted to extend the idea a little further. To do so, I need to bring in a bit of my own culture and share some stories. I grew up with a very special festival in the month of March – Holi, also known as Basanta Utsav – a festival of colors, but more importantly a festival of love. The celebration starts the previous evening by making a bonfire and continues the next day by coloring everyone with colored powder or water.

What I have enjoyed most is how people open up on this day, even strangers. You go to someone’s house and you will be greeted with sweets, drink and colors. A homemade drink from cannabis, milk and various spices is a must. Though it is really an ancient festival, it surprises me how made its place in modern society. I have seen people bending the rules of corporate houses for ‘Holi’ week. I read that the idea has now spread to some other parts of the world too. This year it was on 16^th of March but I missed it being away from home in England.

Now here comes the fun part – as a student, it was a day of love for us all, one that brought all the boys and girls of the university campus together. That’s how ‘Holi’ become very popular among youngsters. All that closeness, roaming about in wet, colored clothes and those hugs – definitely takes a lot of barriers away. The weather around this time of the year in India, is just perfect to spend the day in wet clothes.

So tonight – I want you to think about coloring others.

• What if you secretly like someone and suddenly got a chance to get close?
• What colors would you chose for your loved ones?
• Does colors rekindle passion with your partner?
• What if you are reconnecting to an old friend or friends?
• How would it feel to let go and be colored?

Explore your imagination. Now, this is what you got to do.

• Write a poem and post it to your site.
• Enter a link to your poem and your name by clicking Mr Linky below
• You will find links to other poets. Read and comment on other poet’s work,
• If you are promoting your work on social media, use the tag #dversepoets.

Thank you all. Have fun.

Digital Art Credits: Reetam Banerjee