The Color of Eyes

Note: Thank you, M.P., for inspiring me with the words "muddy puddles." There is also a "Little Prince" homage for you.


The day is cold
but time is shorter despite longer light

I see your eyes, blue,
bluer than I remembered,
but gray, clouds muddled over sky

See, I once thought they were brown,
muddy puddles, patches of wet earth

My mind was disjointed and I could not
dispatch my own eyes to meet yours,
whatever color they were

That’s what happens when you think
yourself on the brink of something-not-quite-love,
a pale and shapeless idea of chemistry

Time dawdles because the mind believes it
has found a nearer version of truth, what
it means to desire to give and be given in return

It is not with the heart that one sees rightly—the
Little Prince is laid to rest, and his rose is all alone,
because the mind is in the shadow, playing tricks again

And I am in the sun, lying to myself, even though
everything is finally clear, like the color of your eyes


Written: 3/18/09