the seas of color

Every hue of blue breaks breaths

since I was a pirate as a child

standing in front of the air conditioner in the hot summers

commanding my ship into the obsidian waters of the backyard sea,

scanning the clattering triangles of deep blackboard blues breaking chalky foam

coughing under the wind.

will she stay calm today?

I go collecting colors

a personal patchwork in the mind,

of my identity and pride.

I’ve been in a relationship with blue since my privateering days of youth.

it is dimensionless, endless,

as Yves pointed out.

how far down does dark blue go?

I imagine as deep as the sky is high,

meeting to embrace on the horizon,

where the sky meets the sea.

lo, the beauty of the rainbow,

with colors between colors

and plenty unique,

enough for everyone

and we can each have our own.

there is a delight

in the spectrums of grey,

hiding between the boring of black

and the drab of white,

brooding maybe, a fine mixing

with the shadows, cloaked or bold

grey is perfectly undecided,

a balance to the flamboyant,

more modest a palatte than say

the riches of Miami’s dress.

the bright light colors of Miami,

such a place to gather swatches.

no burgundy nor blacks in sight,

just salmons, cyans, and seafoams

coating the walls and halls

to escort your eyes out

to the beach’s sunshine.

it is no good place to be

colorblind.

our colors can be

our connections,

old and new and

even the tough ones.

I was never drawn to yellow,

an honest yellow.

I’d require a citrine, or canary, or light champagne,

but I connected to straight yellow some years ago.

my lover and I, back then

shared a habit of keeping pocket notebooks.

I gave her, one year, a yellow one

and she privately wrote in it

the reasons why she loved me.

she left all of her belongings and took off

in the summer of ‘14

on choppy waters.

I read it

before I too left our home.

she was not calm that day.

on the brighter side,

a partner for my blue,

fluorescent orange,

the obsession that can never be quelled.

I wear it, I decorate with it,

I might breathe it if I could.

these colors are mine

and I’m proud to hoist these colors

as Captain of my life boat

pushing into the uncertain waters

of social unrest

and from the deck, I ask

will she be calm today?