Wednesday 17 August 2011

Wild Blue Yonder (#A2ADD0)




I remember watching you dance on the sand, the Pacific blue (#1CA9C9) and placid stretching across the horizon while your shadow (#8A795D) grew longer and longer with the setting sun. In that light your black (#000000) hair looked brown (#B4674D), your white (#FFFFFF) skin tan (#FAA76C) and glistening. Later that night we found ourselves a bar and I watched you dance there, too, while I leaned against the antique brass (#CD9575) rail and sipped my cocktail. You were a wonder.

I remember how you liked to read me trivia from the bottom of your Snapple caps; "the pink flamingo (#FC74FD) isn't born pink," you'd tell me eagerly while I laced up my sneakers. "Fascinating," I'd reply. "Salmon (#FF9BAA) mate for life," you'd tell me, just to see if I was paying attention. "And then they die," I'd reply.



Most of all I remember your eyes, gray (#95918C) and sometimes green (#1CAC78) and always watching me until I'd blush (#DE5D83) with embarrassment or guilt or whatever it was I felt for you then. You thought you had it figured out but now I think we both know how wrong you were, and looking back I can pinpoint the exact moment I found my canary (#FFFF99) in the coal mine. I once pointed out an inchworm (#B2EC5D) steadily making its way up a tree and you looked right through me, like I was the vast emptiness of outer space (#414A4C), like I barely existed at all. That's when I knew.

The memories are bittersweet (#FD7C6E). "I thought you were an orchid (#E6A8D7)," you'd said the very last time we spoke; "I thought you were this rare exotic thing. But really you're just a dandelion (#FDDB6D) after all. Common. Plain old yellow (#FCE883)."

Nope. I'm not. I've every color in the god-damned box.

10 comments:

Jennie said...

This...is...AMAZING. I love the way you write. Also, I'm not even gonna post tomorrow because I'm not following this.

You can call me, 'Sir' said...

This is so ridiculously good. That last photo's pretty mesmerizing, too.

Heather Anne Hogan said...

Oh, wow. Kat. WOW.

kat said...

jennie, you HAVE to post tomorrow. it's your day!

thanks, guys. sometimes i forget what it's like to write non-legal junk.

mysterygirl! said...

Yep, this is perfect.

kat said...

not quite. my greatest regret is that i couldn't find a way to squeeze in macaroni and cheese (#FFBD88).

eclectic said...

You are the brightest and best of all the bright and best things! This reminds me of when I first fell in love with you and your ability to write pictures that wrench my heart until I think it's bursting, only to release me into a fairyland of wonder and space. I STILL don't know how you do it, but I'm always left stunned and grateful when you do.

Iron Fist said...

You are all that and then some. For reals.

linster said...

Just. Wow.
Thank you.

Ashley said...

Can we get that last line printed on a t-shirt, please?