Report from Colours by Mercedes

The crowd settled in on red plastic chairs, clutching glasses of blonde. David, in black, donned his top hat and hopped on to the stage. Every color in the acrylic box sprang from the walls of the cabaret... but first, “Ce soir, une nouvelle régle!” Pour les lecteurs, une limite de quatre minutes, et pour les chanteurs, deux chansons! A consolation: you can sign up for another slot in the second half. A creative challenge! Can you fit your thoughts on the evening's theme into 240 seconds or less?
The evening's theme was already bursting from the walls: colors. The brave opener Rufo took the stage and showed us what poetry could be shared in three minutes, 51 seconds. Poems about “the death of a family member, Iowa, and the death of a family member and Iowa” in which he gave thanks for the “surety of colors...” Surely colors abounded in the kaleidoscope of poetry and prose that followed.
Thomas (4 min 00 sec) gave us a visual demonstration of the “cataracts” of all colors that manifest in his “clothes that are skins” (take it off, Thomas!). David (3 min 54 sec) painted a scene in red and black. Denise (4 min 00 sec) gave us blue bottle flies and Memorization Charlie, all in brown. Sarah (2 min 46 sec) cast forth the browns of pennies and the color of bone. Jaco (2 min 57 sec): “Quand je croise la vie, je lui offre un bouquet...” et nous sommes offerts les couleurs des fleurs. This reporter's synesthesia was ignited by the intervening musical offerings. Geno sang a rainbow a capella, I still hear him singing,“bleu, tout est bleu...” Dana threw orange and yellow flames from her accordion while she sang about red anger, blue sorrow, and green jealousy. The duo The Hands plucked a spring time meadow of sound from a banjo and an African cora. And there were many more colors that filled the evening, and many more voices that brought them to us. Merci à tous qui ont fait parti en tantque lecteur ou audience....

Next time - smells/les odeurs