PAD Day 14: A Study in Blue and Not-blue

 Today's prompts:

WBP: Write an ekphrastic poem.

NPWM: "...write a poem of at least ten lines in which each line begins with the same word...." In other words, an anaphora poem.

PSH: "Create 99 haiku about a single subject." (Jim Babwe)

Prompt 1: Okay. (An ekphrastic poem is, of course, one that is inspired by a work of art in any medium.)

Prompt 2: Okay.

Prompt 2: Are you freaking kidding me?? To be fair, the poet explained how this was a voluntary assignment for his students, which I presume could be done over a reasonable amount of time. But there is no way I'm writing 99 haiku in a day - that's close to 300 lines, albeit short ones. Maybe I'll try 10 or even 20.

So here as a poem combining all three prompts - ten one-line haiku that start with the same word and respond to one of the paintings that Robert Lee Brewer suggested for an ekphrastic poem, the famous painting by Mary Cassatt.

Anaphoric One-Line Haiku on Mary Cassatt’s The Boating Party
 
blue as the river, choppy on a bright spring day—mind your hat, Madam
 
blue as the wide sash on the waist of the rower—father and husband?
 
blue as his beret, navy and like a sailor’s, as he pulls the oars
 
blue-gray as the dress of the mother awkwardly holding her baby
 
blue as the long socks with brown shoes on the baby who wants to get down
 
blue-white as the sail tacked into the western wind on the brisk river
 
blue as the bright sky on the far opposite bank, dotted with houses
 
blue not as the boat—bright yellow, freshly painted—with its matching oars
 
blue not as the pink suit on the child who gazes fondly at the man
 
blue not as Mom’s hat—white with yellow flowers which still has not blown off

(So that's ten haiku on the same subject - I'm more than 10% done!)