Colors Everywhere! Poem by Namratha Swamy

My child once asked me
what color is the ocean,
the mountain,
and the moon
and she set me thinking.
Is it blue, green, white?
Ah! , was it that simple?
On warm summer days, the ocean is
crystalline blue with bright streaks
of ivory floating on the crest of each wave
just before it crashes down
into total oblivion of green!
On any given day, the mountain is
bright red like a burning ember in the flame of fire
off our mile star as it slowly dips to rest
till the orangy-pink blush of morning!
In late fall, the moon flickers
in shades of lucent charcoal as it slowly cools
and then turns to black!
A child holds the beauty of youth
in colors that span the years of its parents
until the graying color of passing seasons
takes away the child within.
The motionless moment waits silently
bound between colors more radiant than our past
but still more mysterious than our future.
Nevermore are our hopes
mixed in the color of our dreams
for in its wake our soul equates the mind
for a second and then is gone!
Colors, colors, everywhere!