When I was born my toes were blue
And not just my toes — my arms and legs too
In fact my entire body was blue
Blue as a bluejay in a sumac tree
Or the waters of the Gulf in July
My mother took one look at me
She asked the doc, “What have I wrought?”
All of her babes had been lavender or pink
A blue child — not what she’d sought
I only stayed blue for two or three years
I was green by the time I reached four
Green as the hue on a two-dollar bill
Or the weeds at our neighbor’s front door
Kids were all kinds of colors at school
But no one had ever seen green
They found my color peculiar
Veggie jokes were a daily routine
High school became a fractious affair
Every year I got more and more yellow
I pretended that I was a lemon
Most thought me a rather strange fellow
Burnt orange when I left home for college,
I looked like an out-of-place bumpkin
My skin was the texture of apricots
Most girls mistook me for a pumpkin
I was red during much of my adult life
But never at ease with my color
Red is the symbol of anger and war
Those who knew me all said I was duller
I retired the day I turned seventy-one
The next morning I woke up deep purple
Having started my life as the color blue
Reaching purple, I was nearly full circle
I’m glad that I’ve been all these colors
It’s hard to say which one is best
I have been impressed with purple so far
Nonetheless I’ve enjoyed all the rest
At my age I’ve learned a deep secret
It’s that life is a color wheel
You start out as blue and you end up blue
But the colors in between are what’s real