Deuteranopia

Red and blue adjacent rumble.

I noticed it first

On the cover of yearbooks.

Holding it bound and shaking it

Made the text vibrate and my eyes quake.

It didn’t seem as significant to others

But to me it was a subtle revelation.

Eyes are shallow and brains are deep.

Seeing color is in the names of hues.

There are cultures without a word for blue.

Red and green rods pull at each other

In my retinae.

Red and blue are left to war.

Giving color vision a kick

And punching up a deficiency.

Light pink looks grey to me out of context.

Staring harder and changing the light helps.

Like neurons, colors never touch.

Light is physical and transient still.

Synapses aren’t sparks but chemical spills.

Red and brown share cortical space.

Brown is a mixture.

I’ve always liked it that way.

Compliments on top of each other

Make for rich and easy-to-see tones.

I can’t pick out certain colors at first

But tell me its name and I’ll try to perceive it.

Mixing paint is a long journey.

You can’t know if you have taken your sight

For granted the way that you always take light.

Until you compare your vision to others.