A Certain Blue
Virginia Carraway Stark

It all started with the Empress Napoleon
She wore a dress of a particular hue
Of a very particular blue
And it made a splash
No one remembers the dress
But if you know a thing or two
And you saw that hue of blue
You would know exactly what I meant
No one remembers the empress
Or the dress
Or, sadly, even the painter,
But you would remember in a flash
The bag or box
That were branded after her forever
That’s the sort of world we live in
Our brands last long after our paintings
Our images
Our lifetimes
Or our names
If we’re lucky, our namesake is a color
That no one remembers
We wore first
Or why it was chosen to be so damn cool.