Yellow is was an ugly color
When I saw yellow,
I saw the vibrant tinge of sickly mucus.
I saw the dirty golden pus of a neglected wound
I saw the piercing tone of a hazmat suit
I. Hated. Yellow.

Whenever I would scribble in my coloring books as a kid,
My pictures would burst with color like a Delaunay
With beautiful greens and blues,
And maybe hues of red and orange,
But I always neglected-- yellow
That is, of course, until I really met her

I truly began to know Yellow this past Summer
When I gave her rides to and from these little get togethers
On the opposite side of town from where we lived.
We’d talk about the future; what we would go to college for.
Yellow wanted to major in the French Horn,
But I suggested she sing. Yellow could truly do it all.

Yellow had always been a go-to soprano in choir,
Her voice smooth as silk flowing through the wind.
But she was also musically talented in just about any other way you could imagine.
She could put her fingers to the ivory keys and steal your emotion
As she played the french horn, you could hear the hymns of angels
Calling out to Yellow: their companion on Earth

Soon enough, our talks were no longer isolated to my car
I started by asking how her day went
She started by responding
And soon enough, every time I thought of Yellow
Her name would pop onto my phone
Next to a small little ghost in a small yellow box

She had become my latest obsession
Every time I saw her face,
The dopamine shot through my veins
Like heroin through the veins of an addict
And damn,
I was hooked

One night, Yellow reminded me that the world was supposed to end
That an unknown Planet X was supposed to run into the earth and stop everything
I asked Yellow, “What would you do if the world was really going to end tonight?”
And she responded by saying she’d have a funeral for a wasp that was stuck in her window
Because Yellow had love and compassion for absolutely everything
Enough golden love in her heart to brighten up the gloomiest of days

“What would you do if the world was really going to end tonight?” she returned.
And I responded by telling her to come outside and see the sign I had in my hands labeled
“I’d ask you to homecoming”
I made sure to wear my only yellow shirt, just because I knew she loved it
That very night we walked through the park for hours, fingers intertwined.
Her love for Yellow seeping through my skin with every bat of her beautiful eyelashes

She seemed to glow with delight
Her smirk big enough to matter, but small enough to say she really cared
She radiated golden beams of yellow
And at that moment the sickness the color gave me
Had transcended into an overwhelming feeling joy
She had changed my yellow from a sign of sickness
To a sign
Of happiness

I stand outside Yellow’s house once again,
Talking to her mother
With a corsage in my right hand,
When suddenly the front door creeks open
And out emerges Yellow in a short black dress
I was speechless

At homecoming we danced till our feet were sore
And just when we were ready to throw in the towel and go get some water
Ed Sheeran started bleeding through the gym room speakers
He was her favorite, and admittedly, mine too
So we stood there gazing, smiling, holding each other closely
And swaying to the rhythm of our own music

She had the biggest, most beautiful eyes
Eyes that were so deep if you weren’t careful
You’d slip and fall and never stop
And boy, did I fall
Her arms slung around my neck, mine around her waist
Brushing the smooth fabric of her dress

The air laced with the lovely scent of Yellow
Not a vanilla perfume, not sweat, but just-- Yellow
If I could’ve stayed there forever, it would’ve been perfect
Like two passersby greeting each other,
We shared a smile,
But that smile just didn’t seem to end

The voices in my head battled
Do I ask her?
Do I stay silent?
And for a split second,
The first took control of the latter,
And I asked her if she’d be mine

She laughed with a giggle that bounced through the air
Like a small rubber ball down the hot summer pavement
“Yeah” she replied
And our lips met
The sweet embrace was but a moment
But it felt like I’d fallen through an eternity
When I see yellow, I’ll never again see
The mucus
Or the pus
Or the hazmat suit, but I’ll see Yellow

When I see Yellow
I’ll feel the wondrous lump in my stomach I got when we talked
I’ll feel the caress of her fingers entangling my own
I’ll see her golden locks that fall somehow fall perfectly in place, no matter the circumstance
I’ll know the joy I get when we fall into fits of laughter with each other
I’ll feel Yellow

If the gods were to take me this very moment
And rip my heart from its vessel
They’d see it would continue to pump Yellow
Ceaselessly, without hesitation

Yellow was an ugly color
But now
Nothing could seem more beautiful