I read the A-frame on the curb as I passed
and pictured the rainbow array of mistakes
from every indistinguishable kind of white
to the shade too much turquoise makes:
the Bold Yellow a bit arrogant,
a Barley Harvest gathered days late,
Salsa Dancing a few beats out of step,
Calypso Blue keeping captives for eight,
a Mint Julep made with rye whiskey instead,
the Nimbus backlit by moonlight,
a potential Love Story lost in a crowd,
Dusk to Dawn from too dark a night.

Originally published in The Aiken Standard.