There will come a day

When the yellow laughter of your children sounds
dull

When the passion-fruit looks you used to share
wither and die

Your life will be progressively muted

Until the brightest greens and yellows
turn blue

One day
You will forget
the color of his eyes
and the smile that opened the door

Everything will fade to blue
Until all you know is navy
A sad cerulean that parts only for the
fire that fills an afternoon
But even the red evaporates
leaving at first a brilliant purple
but the blue always returns
flooding back
thick and opaque

Some nights you reach for the purple
Painting your mind in merlot
Ruby tones fuse with blue

and purple returns

But you are no artist
so delicate strokes become
violent slashes

Violet turns black
red and blue are swallowed
black doesn’t fade

Black stays forever
A parasite on your heart