lapis lazuli is the color of my spiritual doorway

tourmaline, the color of our marriage

stones.

our house, guacamole, sporting both

the yellow and green of an avocado.

honey, the highlight color — stained doors, deck

and yellow cedar shake.

berry is the color of hunger and happiness.

 

but of all the colors abounding, the silver/green

lichen at the base of our massive cedars is the

most intriguing.

 

this is the color of wisdom for me,

of patient abiding.

 

the forest is our Pacific Northwest teacher.

 

when the cedar is exploded by lightning

or thrashed to the ground by a winter wind

storm, its orange-red flesh disintegrates

into wild and weird castles.

 

after several months it breaks down further

into a soft duff that I love to walk through

barefoot.

 

when my feet are well stained

orange red, I am ready to join in their

moist and thoughtful sanctuary.