Life is the color of things:
of places, of thoughts, of people I have loved, of sky and trees.
I know gray well, and I have taken from gray a gift:
the gift of gray is to know – for the first time – the color of things.
Life is the color of things and
it is good to breathe in the riches of sky, of earth,
of shadows across the sky,
of green grass that carries the fragrance of earth,
of long orange autumns, bright maples,
of gray and darkened days of winter,
of spring, snow banks melting,
of a navy-blue awakening, dawn.
The color of things lives in the eyes of friends,
places where sadness lurks,
where pain is not covered by dull happiness.
Life is the color of things:
this gift, earth, all that is in it,
the heart, the heart, full:
And all that is in it.
Life is the color of things. Photo by Mary Elyn Bahlert, Oakland, View Place, 2025
