THE PAINTER
……..The painter asks what color to paint the house, and he expects
the familiar response of brown, gray, or white. He knows the many shades
……..of brown intimately: tan, beige, and buff, for starters, chestnut,
mahogany (shades from the forest), chocolate, coffee, cocoa, caramel
……..……..……..……..….(good food hues), fawn, beaver, camel, and bear
(the coats of our animate cousins), and, of course, sand and stone.
……..……..……....The man has had enough of this bilious list. And he’s filled
to the eyes with the googolplex of grays and the infinite pale permutations
……..……of white, within which, in the end, all are one. When we ask
what color he would paint the house, he is, at first, stunned. He stands
……..……..……..……..….on emerald grass cropped with sapphire sky, staring
……..…at the walls as if the house had dropped from the clouds to crush
……..……..……..his worst enemy. A rainbow torrent emerges from the man:
cerulean, saffron, sable, cerise. He urges the colours of holidays: Halloween
……..…..(black and orange), Christmas (red and green), or Independence
Day (red, white, and blue). He proposes the four sacred colors (black, white,
……..……..………..yellow, and red) or the five colors of the East (black, white,
yellow, red, and blue). He even discloses the four magic colors of his youth
……..……..………..(red, yellow, green, and blue). But, when, at last, he pauses
for breath, he strikes this cataract of colors, surrenders to simplicity,
……..……..………..……..……..…….and proclaims that this house shall be red.
Author’s Bio
Eric Paul Shaffer is author of seven books of poetry, including Even Further West; A Million-Dollar Bill; Lãhaina Noon, and Portable Planet. More than 500 of his poems are published in reviews in America and nine other countries. Shaffer teaches composition, literature, and creative writing at Honolulu Community College.