Spectrum

Spectrum

I stared at the red mouths

the pink mouths

the pearl teeth that formed words

(crooked, lined, stained, tobaccoed, missing)

words that blurred loudly

like a rush of batwinged black

A mind that saw faster than it could hear

heard it called queer. Words

words when they're seen

are prisms   

breaking open     prisons and if

you are quiet you can hear a green beetle open its wings

The bright white of the lab lights loud

as a thousand wings, the staccato of sunlight

through the winter-shorn trees

a terrazzo floor, a puzzle

you ignore

how unsolid it all is

-Meanwhile- footsteps, type-clicks, the sliding

of brown boxes, the buzz of every machine

stinging, lines of impatient inpatients and suddenly I'm

spinning and it's all a silver blur I bury-

in the back of my companions collar

... ... ...

I turn my waiting into a boat. It stays moored

in the harbor, safely rocking. Under my desk

at home, I am lost in the cracking leather and gilded edging

my legs are quiet. To hear the speaker, I must run them

under the table. I turn off the lights

when I'm in the room alone so I can see

Yellow, how are you? Lemon meringue, banana

calling, listening to the limoncello. 580

nanometers? Oh you're on my wavelength!

This is better than moonlight, or citrine,

laetiporus, oxalis flowers, pineapple

or parmesan, lemons or

Blue as a matter of fact, much of the time

Cerulean times we live in but more

importantly

our silence doesn't mean what you think

it does. Indigo. Periwinkle.

Cornflower. I care so much more than you

that in the living room

the cut glass paperweight throws

c n t e l l t

o s a i o n s

on my ceiling. Each point

a rainbow. The colors were already there

You just didn't know how to look.