The Visitation of the Pink Lady and James Whistler’s Nocturne: Blue and Silver- Battersea Reach

The pink lady with Crayolas

Came to my sick bed one night and

Sat in a gray steel chair

Smiling.

She drew a crayon from the box and began

To color my heart.

“What color is this? I asked

Admiring her handiwork.

What color does it say?”

And she answered.

“The color of the sun and the moon embraced by the Sea

The color of the forest floor strewn with ferns and velvet moss and raindrops

The color of the night before the moon rises and after the sun has set

The color of snow reflecting the glow from the street light outside your bedroom window

But It says Blue-green.”

“Oh! Is it the color of God?” I asked.

And she smiled giving me the crayon

Her wings brushing my cheek

As she silently flew to the next child’s bed.

-David Heaney, January 2018