Palettes

I saw the moon painted purple once
By a setting sun.
Winter's colors covered the sky
Lavender, azure, and jade.
The moon rose through floating shadows,
Shouldered them aside with its light.
As it ascended, it brightened
To rose, to gold, and finally
To shining silver.
Still the colors remained,
Smoky and alluring, draped over the ground.
I considered them, soaked in them,
Mentally rolled around and reveled in them.
I savored those colors, sensuously,
And then I stole them.
I painted a purple sky in my mind,
Dappled with lavender clouds
Wrapped in a rose petal wind.
I hung a white sun in a clear jade dome,
Companioned it with four blue moons
Dressed in the tints of twilight.
I set dashing captains to sail on seas
The shade of sunset in honey,
Brought them home on ships
As sultry as dusk.
O Winter,
How glorious your rainbows
How perfect your palette for all places,
For the palaces of mind
And magic.

Copyright © 2006 by Elizabeth Barrette