Colour Blind

If you can see the sepia in the sun
Shades of grey in the fading streets
The radiating bloodshot of a child's eye
The dark stains on her linen sheets
If you can see oil seperate on water
The turquoise of leaves on trees
The reddened flush of your lover's cheeks
The Violet peace of calmed seas

If you can see the bluest eye
The purple in the petals of the rose
The blue anger, the venom, of the volcano
The creeping orange of the larva flows
If you can see the red dust of the famished road
The white air strike of the Nike's sign
If you can see the skin tone of a Lucien Freud
The colours of his frozen subject mime.

If you can see the white mist of the oasis
The red, white and blue that you defended
If you can see it all through the blackest pupil
The colours stretching, the rainbow suspended
If you can see the breached blue of the evening
And the caramel curls in the swirls of your tea
Why is it you are colour blind
When you see me??

By Lemn Sissay

That's beautiful - thank you for posting it.

I read it a couple of times and the words really are lovely .
Must look up this poet - new to me

Trinkie

I had never heard of this poet either till I was reading a book about adoption(from the childs point of view), it certainly makes you think.


The fact that there had been quite a lot of discussions on here recently about racism was the main reason I decided to post it.

Very true it's so sad that so many only see in black and white with shades of grey.