Yellow: A Poem

I’m a prose writer, a memoirist, and essayist. I don’t pretend to be a poet, but I dabble in a bit of poetry here and there. I don’t adhere to meter, heptameter, hexameter, or iambic pentameter. I don’t write limericks, ballads, or sonnets. I write vers libre (free verse). I write to share the emotional truth.

Yellow – the most visible color.

Banana peels, tractors, raincoats, school buses, beach flags.

Highlighted words: scars, survivor’s guilt. Sticky notes on the refrigerator, on the bathroom mirror, scrawled with indelible ink: call psychologist, take antidepressant, Attend brain injury support group.

Flashing traffic lights: Slow Down. Double yellow lines: Do Not Pass. Diamond shaped signs: Road Closed Ahead. Rectangular signs: Highly Flammable. Children at Play. Watch for Bicyclists, Joggers – and pedestrians.

Caution tape – a reminder. Ten died. We survived the impact – of the speeding car. Sixty-three of us.

Yellow – the most visible color. In the dark. From a distance. Even from the corners of my eyes.

Be daring. Take a risk. Write a poem. And, please, share.