the crayon adapts

the crayon adapts

 

 

i saw the thaw

but felt the ice increase

in the lines on your face 

 

i shivered

deep in my heart

then colored outside those lines

 

 

erin-cilberto

1/31/26

Reviews

[Fabian G. Franklin]

What is the color of cold? It must be blue. Children color the sun orange or yellow or red but the glacial ice is always blue. My artist daughter never like coloring books but she would draw her own pictures and color those. Eventually, I quit trying to buy her coloring books and started buying art supplies of all sorts. She still doesn't color much with crayons but she loves colored pencils.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

You have shown me some of her work. Your daughter is immensely talented in many areas...Thank you for sharing...she is an artist.

[Relic]

Having to walk on thin ice with someone sucks. I know that. Having to color outside those lines is basically the same thing. Being miserable in a relationship is worse than being alone and lonely.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, it's like that.
j.

[Andrew John]

I feel the ice! This does rather hit me.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Andrew.
j.

[Davidgeo]

I mean no offense with what I am about to say.... this poem immediately reminded me of the Batman movie with Arnold and George Clooney. It's a good poem man, you always write good poetry but... I had to share this. Arnold dropping Mr Freeze one liners while George Clooney Batman acts like George Clooney in real life but, in a movie. A movie so bad it still generates intrusive thoughts upon me to this day. It's a very fine type of art if you are into that type of art. Do you know who Neil Breen is?

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I will look up Breen, but you are right...worst Batman film, worst portrayal of him...and I am not offended...at my age, pretty hard to do that.
j.

[Amy R]

The imagery of thawing ice and the act of coloring outside the lines suggests a desire to break free from constraints and embrace change, even in the midst of emotional turmoil.
I always color inside the the lines, but life shows u that coloring outside the lines or thinking outside the box is important as adult. Life isn't always neat, just as being flexible(to adapt) in life.

~Amy

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Amy.
j.

[Amy R]

You're welcome

[Thomas W Case]

Your lines hit like cold wind through cracked windows—sharp, tender, and stubbornly alive.
I feel the ache between the colors and the ice; you made me shiver and linger there.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Thomas,
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Colouring inside the lines, how important that was to me as a child. Colouring outside the lines as an adult, tells me it’s ok not to be perfect. Flexibility is important. Great title j. Relationships are complex.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, okay not to be perfect for sure.
thank you, Chris.

[John the Baptist]

Indeed, sometimes we have to adapt to the situations life shows us, especially in relationships. In other words, if it seems worth it, we must learn to be flexible.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, John.
j.

[Curly Grace]

There’s such a quiet tenderness in the way you capture emotional weather...how a face can hold both thaw and frost at once. That final choice to color outside the lines feels like a small act of courage, a soft refusal to let coldness define the moment. Lovely work.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Curly.
j.

[Betty Hermelee]

Hi Jacob... if you can draw outside the lines, then you are not a perfectionist, but better still one who seeks imagination and creativity....and can think outside the box in relationships as well....the lines do not have to freeze....they are epitome of warmth... what's in between the lines is as sweet as a rose...as you adapt...so does the crayon...
Warmly, B

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your words, Betty,
j.