Colors

Rainbow layer cake (AI image)

Hope you will enjoy this colorful poetry selection, copyright 2026 Paula Light.

Eclectic Edited Twix Mix 

[free verses]

Kaleidoscope dreams

Sunflower lime

Violet turquoise

Reshape endlessly

Each iteration

Overwritten by

The latest

Gossamer veils

Of lace and light

Swirl into silver

Navy blue midnight

Forgotten desires

Come to vibrant life

Weave a tapestry

Of complex magic

Across space and time

Drunk on plum wine

And strawberry kisses

I missed the fact

That this was fiction

A juicy fantasy

Sweet and sticky

Seduced my mind

So false so delicious

Mirrors and smoke

Shadows and glass

Loving you most

Meant loving you last

Sustained by the dream

I retreat to the mists

Loving you always

From one toxic kiss

Psychedelic soul

Unmoored from the mind

Dives under the sea

Dances on starshine

The further she floats

The closer she glows

Embracing the space

Between moments alive

Summer love

Passed me by

Soft rain dripped

Down tearstained sky

Blue dreams curled

On warm night sand

Broken seashells

Slipped through my hands

Words that linger

In my mind

Love that loiters

Past its prime

All these false starts

Every smashed dream

Begins with your name

And ends in silence

The stories we tell now

Fail to describe us

They float like lost ghosts

In search of a writer

~*~

Blue

[free verse]

I wore blue in NorCal

A fuzzy comfy sweater

When we watched the wild water

And thought we were better.

Not calm like beaches south

These raging waves of slate

Twisting churning

Thrashed with froth

Mission to obliterate.

We kissed on the cold sand

Wind blew my hair into your mouth.

My sweater caught on the branch

Of a bent and breaking tree.

That night at a piano bar

I unraveled the strand.

We did not dance to the blues

(We never danced)

Notes continued to play

As more threads frayed away.

How little of a thing

Can be left until

It will no longer

Be called what it was?

~*~

Turquoise 

[couplet chain]

Some call it blue; some say green—

It undulates in between.

Mermaid’s treasure, waterfall—

Synergy upon your wall.

Intuition, misty teal:

Much too lush to be real.

Paint chip names in a row:

Fairy tale and calypso.

Robin’s egg, cornflower sky—

A dress or a butterfly.

Jewelry, cupcakes, seaside art—

Turquoise always soothes my heart.

~*~

 

Green Dreams 

[free verse]

Even before the last snow melted, 

Tender shoots sprouted 

Up along the sidewalk edges, 

And my mother was out there with them, 

Coaxing everything green to thrive. 

By the time summer arrived, 

We had a riot of colorful blossoms 

Partying in our garden. 

She grew tomatoes, carrots, strawberries. 

We feasted on zucchini bread, 

Along with clever squash boats 

Filled with meat and sauce and cheese. 

She made vanilla ice cream

Garnished with fresh fruit.

Those verdant summers, 

Filled with wholesome food,

Made me feel optimistic

About the coming school year. 

My dreams turned into emeralds, 

Just waiting to be mined.

~*~

September’s Song 

[haibun]

The whisper of a cool breeze reminds me that sultry summer dreams are coming to an end. I welcome brown sugar oatmeal, crisp apple cider days, and cozy blanket kitty snuggles. My old sweaters and boots seem like new again. Though I’m decades from school, I revel in unopened notebooks, sharpened pencils, and unused erasers. The possibilities are endless! My cup overflows with the pumpkin spice of life.

Autumnal palette

Orange amber magenta

Brightens longer nights

~*~

Violets

[free verse]

 

I dreamt of a strawberry sunrise,

Violets spilling from your eyes;

Your hands were amber warm;

Your mouth green with desire.

Passion swept the meadow like fire;

I marveled at your fresh perfection;

You loved me in my best reflection,

And I was the goddess of the dawn.

 

~*~

Purple 

[free verse]

A blend of luscious blue 

And vibrant red,

Peace and passion,

Created me.

Violet, the most luxurious

And spiritual

Of all the colors,

Is my melodic name.

I am the creative canvas

For a fertile imagination.

Royalty knows me well;

Byzantium nobles stroll

Through crumbling castles,

Resplendent in plum robes

Of crushed velvet 

And silky satin,

Spangled with gold,

As befits my elevated status.

My color graces soft orchid petals,

Kissed with dewdrops,

Trembling in the early dawn.

Lavender and lilac

Fill your rooms with love.

Jagged amethyst crystals

Glitter in volcanic bowls,

While white diamonds grow green

Over purple’s superior beauty.

I am the hue of dragons,

Fierce and loyal,

Soaring across the sky:

Their heliotrope wings

Outshine the moonlight.

True blue is married

To danger’s red flame;

Come closer…I won’t bite.

I am mysterious and intuitive,

Feminine, elegant,

Yet earthy as an eggplant.

Yes, I am arrogant,

But it is tempered with honor.

I am the color of wisdom,

Which also makes me the shade

Of mourning.

~*~

Crisp White Shirt

[free verse]

Once it was a comfort,

The tall, unyielding wall of you.

At 6AM and 8PM, solid:

Crisp white shirt,

Clean summer cotton,

Faintly scented mountain,

You hugged away the trivial;

While I contemplated

Symmetrical buttons and

Perfectly pointed collar.

There’s not much I miss,

But this.

~*~

Chasing Sunsets

[free verse]

It’s been a good month of sunsets

Outside the conference room window,

Splashing down behind the old Hyatt—

A riot of violet, indigo, crimson.

I told you I loved you there,

One sweaty summer afternoon,

When I was your hotel princess

In passion’s tangled despair.

As the days lengthen

And storms malinger,

The sky waits for my drive home,

Candy striping on my commute—

Watermelon, apricot, grape.

I stop at the fairgrounds

To take a shot of butterscotch

Streaking out of sight.

We never went to the fair,

Never shared a sundae in the sun,

Or kissed on a Ferris Wheel ride;

We said goodbye in the shadows

As cerulean darkened to slate.

Soon the sun will drop

Long after I’m inside for the night;

I tire early now.

One day I’ll see my last—

I wonder which kind it will be—

The glorious burst of final savage color,

Or a slow unremarkable fade to black?

~*~

Black Moon
[haibun]

No one told me that some months have a second dark moon. The black moon punches a hole in the wall of eternity, revealing the waiting abyss, its open maw hungry for a soul. I see no stars as I walk this deserted beach, and the water is as obsidian as the sky. The invisible waves crash and hiss while I stay close to the relative safety of the jagged rocks. The scent of salt and death swirls through the air, and I reach out a hand to feel the rough comfort of frozen stone. A coyote’s howl echoes through the night, but where it prowls, I do not know. It might be miles away, or it could be around the next curve of sand. I take my chances and keep moving on.

Ghosted at Christmas
Unwrap a box of darkness
My regift to you

~*~

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"There are as many worlds as there are kinds of days, and as an opal changes its colors and its fire to match the nature of a day, so do I."

 ~ John Steinbeck

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