ALEXANDRA UMLAS

Blue

Among living things, the color blue is oddly rare. – pbs.org

paradox of blue or the perception of blue,
I’ll take either—8% of eyes scattering light,
ocean that hits the boat at the bow,
berry pie, veins carrying, terrarium dart
frogs at the zoo between violet and cyan,
sound of a violin in a street at midnight,
painted on porcelain, windowed in cathedrals,
dipped cloth, indigo from bleu or blao,
from incandescence, language, longing,
primary, the seeing of the sky, tomb painting,
letters, photos, fabrics, line of the horizon,
jeans, boy that hung on my grandmother’s wall,
bows on his shoes, pages of ink, scrawled,
curling and cursive, straining sea, long view
of mountains, Earth, morning glories, sapphires,
wings, frescos painted in Pompei, lapis lazuli
bowls, headband of the girl with the pearl
earring, police, Picasso’s guitarist, patriotism,
sparkling car paint, a just-lit stove burner,
Easter eggs, Elsa’s sparkling dress, Elvis’s
Christmas, his shoes, pants and influences,
wave of grief, jar of Vicks, bioluminescence,
handful of midnight in moonlight, streaked
across centuries, color of the court of Louis XIV,
algal blooms, rim of my favorite mug, noise,
herons, collars, loveliest shade, largest whale
(or any animal for that matter) in the world—

Alexandra Umlas is the author of the poetry collection At the Table of the Unknown.