purple is

Purple is the in-between
Between twilight and the deep dark
In between left and right
(Right is not straight despite its etymology).⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And purple isn’t just red and blue,
It’s also the absence of yellow.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Purple is the perfectly ripe plum
And the darkest bruise that takes a month to fade
(from the skin).⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
In England, the Purple Emperor butterfly was once captured with rotting flesh.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Purple can be the color of mourning
And the color of the irises that I once planted in my mother’s garden.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
(Are butterflies meant to be captured?)⠀

***

I wrote this poem in celebration of “National Arts and Humanities Month” using a prompt. The image is from my sketchbook.

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