red, and blue
yellow, and green
tell me again
how the waters rose

the screen tells a story
a mottled spectrum
bright yellows and greens
as the stormfront rolls in
bright yellows and greens
as the stocks rise

bright reds and blues
fighting in texas
the mottled gray of
an ultrasonic battleground
transparent tears falling
like so much bad weather

did you know, then?
the bright yellows and greens
of the bp logo
flowering with thoughts and prayers
they refuse to answer themselves

did you know, then?
the reds and blues
of cable news tribalism
legitimizing thoughts and prayers
as a method of governance

of course we knew
in the same way
a tapeworm
knows the good times
can't last forever

red, and blue
yellow, and green
tell me again
how the waters rose

i stared at the storm
through this window
for so long

that i truly believed
glass was wet

starving, i was given
the most perfect strawberry
ripe, and generous with juice
whose flavour made me cry
just to taste

and yet
i was still hungry

when i said
i want you
i didn’t smile
so much as
bare my teeth

the visible spectrum is a mere sliver
the silver on the back of the glass
that reflects our entire existence

but it is still only a sliver

my reds pulse deep bloody heat
the anger of injustice
the passion of existing regardless
and you will never see my infrared
but you will feel it all the same

my violets radiate high spirit light
the knowledge of my history
the compassion of my future
and you will never see my ultraviolet
but it will burn you all the same

my mother knit my black skin from starstuff
in a basement apartment
that had no room for her dreams
(so she placed them in me)

she gave me gemini
the night sky that pulses with
x-ray and gamma and
microwave and potential energy
and said all this can be yours
i gave you eyes to see
but they are not your vision

to think i spent years wearing only black
because they made no dye for
the colours i saw every time
i closed my eyes

my greens spread, earth-driven vines
the love of being alive
the yearning to hold you all
and you will never taste my chlorophyll
but it will feed you all the same