Colours
Roy Lazarus
4 July 2009, 15:16I have seen the colours, yes I have
Of scraggy rooftops – little jagged scarps –
That rise like uncertain, ugly ducklings
In nests of red, blue, and green plastic;
Broken plaster bare broken fangs
That gnaw at the broken dreams that dwell within –
Broken dreams white-washed over in haste.
I have seen the colours, yes I have
Of dungs black and green
Of flies and beetles within,
Of the golden brown
That rises all around
To claim the abomination as its own.
I have seen the colours, yes I have
Of cheery Namastes,
Of unfeigned Shaloms,
Of both murmured in a single breath
By souls caught between
Two worlds old.
I have seen the colours, yes I have
Of your eyes –
Grey as sleet –
That stare askance as I say to you
“I can write the saddest lines tonight.
To think I don’t have you, to feel I have lost you.”
I have seen the colours, indeed I have
And I am none the wiser for it.
