88 Shades of Blue

I went down the rabbit hole on this one. (Incidentally or not there is a shade of blue called Alice) My poor wife thinks I'm crazy. Yesterday's prompt was about color. I thought of a weird bit I did when I started playing harmonica. "I'd like to play you the blues...COBALT...Wah Waaaaa Wah  Wah... PERIWINKLE....ect" I thought of researching a couple shades and making a quick poem. Next thing I knew a couple of hours and many web pages later, I had written down over a hundred hues of blues. I had also read about root words of the tints, historical record of the colors used in art, the significance of blue to many cultures, the architectural use of blue in archaeology, and the history of the blues in America. It was late so I ripped off a haiku about the colors of life. Today, I tried to put all my pages together and my wife reminded me that the prompt is about the four(or 6 or 7) elements. Soon I was lost in the 'elements' of different traditions, philosophies, beliefs, fictions, faiths, and even chakras. Now I'll try to mesh them together.

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I am sky blue. Believe in the divine. Egyptians say Amur rides the wings of air, but he's blue so we can't see him. Ah l'ciel. I long for the wild blue yonder. Fly an Aero-plane. Join the Air Force and secure our air superiority or just look for Amur or God.

I am cobalt blue. My shades are created by heat. Fire forged sintered at 1200 degrees of life. Not as iron dark as a Prussian, but tough enough. Some days I'm cyan poisonous, unstable phtalo, or envy tinged cerulean. The lava crucible of repentance skims away the impurities and makes me true.

I am aqua blue. I want to float peacefully aimlessly. I want to sail and see the world. Travel to Carolina, Capri, Catalina, Honolulu, Japan, Spain. Study the ocean, the sea. Join the Navy to train to be an ultra marine. I could get a yacht and say I went to Cambridge, Yale, Oxford, or Eton like a good imperial yankee who was a cadet and cheers for the Dodgers. Splash water in my face. Wake me up.

I am sapphire blue. It was a color of my wedding. It grounded me. I was brought back to earth. My eyes and ring finger b'dazzled. We dug precious stones out of each other. Azurite insight. Lapis lazuli truth. Moonstone patience. Turquoise communication. From a few resolute pebbles we are building a mountain vista.

I am slate blue. Metal men are only looking for a heart. I may wish I was a man of steel. Harsh words grind me to powder. A word fitly spoken apples of gold in pictures of silver. 

I am indigo blue. A tree firmly rooted. Life and growth make my woods enchanted. I am sustained by blueberries and honeydew. I'll put on some denim and you a bonnet. We'll gather flowers for our love bower my beau. Look!There's iris, violet, lavender, cornflower, and periwinkle. There's a peacock and nest of baby robin's eggs. If anyone tries to disturb us I won't be a pansy. I'll grind up some woad, paint my pictish face, pray to Saint Patrick, wear royal blue like King Arthur, and duke it out till we have liberty.

I am electric blue. The storm builds like summer midnight dark sky in the prairie afternoon. I grumble distant thunder inside. I pray that *ZAFFRE*ZOMP* you don't get hit by lightening words. They are bright, hot, uncontrolable, and leave burnt bridges in the night.

I am iceberg blue. There's more going on below the surface. I don't intend a cold shoulder. I am simply blizzard blind lost inside my own mind. The hoar frost plugs my ears. I am unfrozen sometimes only by your tears.

I am celestial blue. This space cadet has wandered in the infinity of the cosmos. These stars worshipped by ancient Persians, Egyptians, Byzantines, Mayans and Romans. Some day I hope to be space commander.

I am rhythm blue. I weep the blues. I relax in a bluegrass state of mind. I play taps for those we lost. Men salute the flag and banners of blue in old days as the ship sailed by. It meant a shipmate was killed in duty. I play jazzy off key blue notes as surreal as Picasso's blue period. I play hymns that let the light shine in like cobalt used to make stained glass windows. Now I'm not so blue.