What Colour Does Love Paint In? Poem by Theresa Minu Dominic

Red, said zara.
Red of lips that've just been kissed.
The red of unmade cheeks
Where passion and restrain wage wars unseen.

But, then I saw her lying dead,
Her love unreturned,
Her passion unperturbed.

I looked for the red on her unkissed lips.
I looked for the red from the unseen wars.
I saw the red on her forlorn form.
The blood that wet her undone hair.

Yellow, said the Sunflower -
Yellow of a sunny summer day.
I watched her as she danced in joy-
Drinking in her lover's sight,
Fluttering coyly as he smiled.

Then, i saw him leave,
His blithe yellow, now a sober hue
Of orangish smoke and steamy blue:
The masterpiece he made to bid his bye.

Her merry petals, now a heap of brown,
The Sunflower heaved a cold, cold sigh
And laid her head on her crumpled fronds -
An ode to love that wilts with time.