When is your “blue o’clock”?
Phrase credit: Paul Wittenberger used this provocative phrase in a poem on Substack, and it intrigued me. Some of us know what time "blue o'clock" is because we have lived through one or more. . .
Imagine you are in bed at 4:00 a.m. in a deep but troubled sleep. When you awaken, you feel unsettled, not scared or happy, just unsettled. You don’t know why you feel so strange but wish you could go back asleep and capture the blue calm feeling. But it never works. You can never recapture the perfect blue calm. That is your “blue o’clock.”
i want to highlight Paul’s Substack because he was kind to let me borrow the phrase “blue o’clock”. Though he is writing about dawn on the marsh, it’s a dreamy description which would summon a nice dream as well with geese, ducks, fish, herons and terns! Thanks, Paul!
You were so right to point out Paul’s phrase. Blue O’clock is just such a poetic construct. To me it represents a state of malaise that is irrational in nature. It’s a feeling you just can’t put your finger on. The great thing about poetry is nobody is ever completely wrong.
So thought provoking!