More than a Color

*Preformance Poem

The one color that an artist can never get right-
Is the one color that our eyes encounter each and every time we look at that endless sky
Every time
Because even during the darkest depths of a starless night,
or the dullest abyss of a foggy day
That sky we stare at has some faint shade . . . of blue
Blue . . .
It's what our eyes have forced us to call a substance, which is clear
Water has no natural color, yet our eyes give it a pigment. Blue
But water has many shades of blue
The blue of the ocean isn't the same as the
blue of the beach or the
blue of the sea
And even with the millions of different possible shades of blue why is it almost impossible to tell
Where the sky ends and the ocean begins
Blue-
Is the largest group of crayons in the box
Blue-
Is the center of a hurricane
Blue-
Is the title of a song. 'Cause somebody somewhere so loved the color that they sang,
"I'm blue, if I were green I would die, if I were green I would die."
over and over until it embedded itself into the minds of children everywhere
Blue.

Blue-
Is a beach wood fire
Blue-
Is the correct color of BLUE jeans
Blue-
Is the only color that was entrusted with the ability of interpreting feelings.
It's a way to tell people when we are upset,
sick,
calm,
clever,
energetic,
or even stubborn
You never hear people saying, "I'm feeling orange today.
Man, I'm just lime green.
Dude leave me alone, I'm periwinkle."
And why?
For one, it just sounds stupid.
But also
It's because blue is so much more, the one color no artist can ever get right.