hue and cry - shane schick

Pantone, I am begging you,

no more colors of the year. 

Let them all share the top spot. 

Make it cool to spend Sand Dollars

wherever its desert beige will soothe.

We should toast Mimosa in perpetuity,

drinking in its yellow knowing 

the sun has plenty left to spare. 

As for Emerald, just try ignoring it;

the grass will wear nothing else.

A wall swathed in Radiant Orchid

will continue to bring the heat,

even if its namesake loses its petals. 

Living Coral should reign immortal.  

The decisions we’ve been making

about the climate, foreign aid and

reproductive rights might seem 

like a solid business case for 

coating the entire world in black.

All the more reason to give us

the fullest palette you possibly can. 

If we ever manage to weather 

the storm we’re living through now,

just imagine the kind of rainbow

we’ll need to paint at the end of it. 

Shane Schick has had poems published in literary magazines across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Africa and India. He lives in Whitby, Ont. More: ShaneSchick.com/poetry