White, by Douglas Richardson

White Painting, four panels, by Robert Rauschenberg (USA) 1951

White

White,
the salient colour of night,
the east and west of human eyes,
the summits of ocean swells and bowling pins,
the bases of waterfalls and baseball diamonds.
 
White,
the exclusive colour of Grecian summers, pensive,
spectral, in rows of sculpture by the hundreds;
the porcelain tinkling of chess pieces,
the sewing of surrender flags.
 
White,
the crusted colour of mummies, insect and human,
the produce of silkworms and of fear,
the effect of quicklime in time of plague,
the priestly smoke of censers.
 
White,
the obligatory colour of doves perched on clotheslines
under black clouds in backyards by railroad tracks;
the genuine simplicity of respectful observation,
the acceptance, not worship, of irony.

Douglas Richardson

This poem was first published in the author's book, Sugar Fish (The Sacred Beverage Press 2007).
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Douglas Richardson lives in Santa Ana, California, with his wife Jen and cat Wes. In these work-from-home years he likes to watch Big Bang Theory reruns during his lunch hour.  His poetry has been published in The American Journal of Poetry, Anti-Heroin Chic, Black Poppy Review, Cajun Mutt Press, Hobo Camp Review, The Nervous Breakdown, The New Verse News, Straight Forward Poetry, Trouvaille Review, and Poetry Super Highway. In 2013, he won the Poetry Super Highway contest with his entry, “Notes from the Graveyard Shift.”