Life’s Colors

By Mike Turner

We run through the colors of our lives
The yellows of bright possibilities
Lives begun, opportunities offered
The greens of early success
Chances taken, hopes promised
The reds of passions stoked
Loves encountered, yearnings ignited
The blues of loss
Dreams unfulfilled, accomplishments unrewarding
Oranges and purples and scarlets and indigo
Once viewed as a palette of iridescent wonder
Now seen as the inevitable wash of time
Until at last we’re left with browns and rust
The dry, crackling remains of once verdant leaves
Upon branches that stretched to white-hot sun
Now standing bare to winter’s pewter skies
Yawing catacombs now beckon
And all the hues we’ve experienced 
Run like diluted paints in the rain
Rivers of multicolored tears
Mixing, swirling, shifting
Losing individuality
As they shade
To night’s black
Which yet is speckled
With brilliant white stars
Dusting the heavens
Diamonds on black velvet canvas
Marking our passing
Shimmering as a prism
Cleaving into the rainbow of colors
We live

Mike Turner is a songwriter and poet living on the US Gulf Coast. He was featured on the “15 Minutes of Fame Stage” at the 2020 Monroeville Literary Festival. Mike’s songs have received radio play throughout the US, UK, Europe, New Zealand and on the US Armed Forces Radio Network. He was featured in the books, “Who’s Who of Emerging Writers 2020” and …”2021,” and “I, The Writer” published by Sweetycat Press. Mike’s poems have been published in numerous print and on-line journals; his poem, “A Flash of Blue” was awarded 1st Place in the 2020 Springtime Contest at Academy of the Heart and Mind. His debut poetry collection, “Visions and Memories,” was published by Sweetycat Press in July 2021.