I)The Zephyr embraces my hair
wet, smooth and ticklish
it writes a gentle embrace
on my cheeks
whispering an invocation
to Color
at the lackluster perpetuation
of color deprivation
of color negation
of color amnesia
In the blood
that injures into red droplets
from a sharp paper cut
In the bones
that break into grey calcium crumbles
running too fast for your fitness
In the tooth, rotten rust
that plops into the dentist’s dish
extracting the pain
In the poop
deep devilish
washed away in the commode
as you pretend to watch the world stream by
In the tears
that flow like golden baptism
at graduation
In the spit
phlegmatic demonstration of dissent
demonstration of dissent
In the words
that demonstrate
a blue ink like patience
in their description of mayhem
In the fear
that threatens
to bolt up your throat
puckish mold like
the acidic delusion
and sweet vulnerability
leaving a mineral taste
it caresses my neck
and then wanders
beneath my scarf folds
II)Says the Zephyr wave like
to my heartbeat erratic
I caught the remnants
of human leftovers
from a sunken ship
in my fishing net
and
I am puzzled
the remains were all the same
neutral, indifferent, blind
or just washed away
the blood, bones and teeth
I offered them
back to the deep
haunted
by the question of color
ever since
III)Then the westerly swishes
around me
shuddering
settling at my waist
playful yet determined
It asks my core
what happened??
to skin, hair, eyes
grappling shade to shade
in the battlefield
of draining humanity
stain like stubborn
the color
within the panoramic hue
of faces in and around you
jarring, brutal
starkly different
a reminder
there is
unfinished business
adamant
at being the solution
as well as the problem
pretending that
there will be color redemption
is unfair, a myth
surrender instead to it
or forever
it will jarringly
show up
in physical attributes
juxtaposed
scruffy Brown
with
meticulous White
foreboding Pale
with
wistful Black
persevering
expanding the palette
qualifying the flux
as a miracle
that the other color
brings to our tapestry
reunions waiting
where threads,twine,wool
meet and unmeet
touching away the desolate
healing in collaboration
Then what’s holding you back??
IV)With a whiff the cottony breeze fleets
over my eyes
my waist is released
give yourself permission
to nurture
rearrange
your color quotient
be okay to be awkward
unleash the demons
in your dungeons
or be condemned
to the conformity of color
your role
in the catastrophe
is yours to choose
if authoritative ownership
of the process
is far fetched
make a miniature debut
pretend, act
the heritage of color
locate yourself
in a life
of elegant hues
or be condemned
to a stark hueless slumber
the sun is setting
you must hasten
glistening orange burns
into the stillness
soon
all will be ash and slate
redeem color relevance
or choose colour-blindness
V)Zephyr seawards leaves behind
a calmness
forcing a pause
as it goes onwards
over the water
blue crystal clear
graffiti remnants
stay in the mist
salve like
Kashiana 