Color  of  Young
 
Green is the valley where the child in us lolls,
happy with a dandelion and a little slice of sun.
 
Green is the hill leading up in time
to see if a cow with  milk chocolate eyes
 
will stand still for a pat.  Green is the cool
dapple of water in a stream  bed  that invites
 
a wade to look for a tadpole.   Glows
as it grows and does not wash out.
 
Color your sky with your bluest crayon, or
the silver one with the fresh point  to bring back
 
a sweet shower.  Make the ground cocoa, licorice,
orange.   Swirl  the reds and golds of autumn
 
or the whites, creams, and ivories of a winter
snow, or use the whole box to dot on spring
 
flowers.  Most of all, remember green.   Green,
whether forest, emerald, leprechaun, lime,
 
or chartreuse, after all remembers you.

          (c)  Phyllis Jean Green, 2007