Crimson. The beams crawl up the trees.
Sun. Scarlet sun bathing white linen
in light.
Heat. Heat is red. White linen is warm.
Cold, cold blue-white basin. Rush
of cool blue over peachy-pink.

Magenta-Lilac-Chocolate glides inside.
I can scent ebony
Dark, dark rich silk. Her thoughts
are fixed. Waving, shimmering ebony
over peachy-pink.

No. No silk, I insist. Crisp blue,
sapphire blue taffeta.
Taffeta is warm. Silk,
dark silk is cold.

Magenta-Lilac-Chocolate sighs but persists. Silk
Vivid flashing sliding shimmering silk.
Ebony silk.

I frown. Sparkling, lustrous. Garnet, emerald,
Ruby, sapphire, diamond, topaz, lapis,
gold, atop shimmering blonde.

Magenta-Lilac-Chocolate flinches. Silk fades.
She bows…and gets the taffeta.

Fresh, crisp taffeta glides over peachy-pink. Warm.
Just right.
I smile at Magenta-Lilac-Chocolate.

Then hot, lemon-yellow. Crunchy golden-brown.
Smooth, creamy orange.
Delicious. Gone too soon.
But I must hurry. I cannot be late.

Click-click of shoes on ash-silver marble.
Swish-swish of sapphire taffeta.
Bright-broad hallway. Bright-rich tapestries.

Mahogany double doors loom. I can picture the scene
on the other side. It is in my heart.
I smile at the porters. Coal-Chestnut-Maroon
and Lavender-Azure-Fuschia.
Then I nod, and they smile back.

The doors open. I don’t need to see the scene. Red,
burning, pure, vibrant red. It is my heart.

A sea of colors. People. All my people. I raise
my arms. My people cheer and clap.
Every one.

For I am Tasriel, The Rainbow, and
I rule them all. Every shade, every
luster. They are all
my people.

*
*
*

Normalcy is beige.
Calm, steady fawn.
Day after day my
people seek
my advice.
I must be calm
beige-steady, rock-solid.
I am the source of
normalcy here. If
I am not composed
chaos will reign.
Sickly yellow-green
Chaos.

Sometimes
they worry I am
too young.
Green-black worry
that eats away
at your color.
Individuality.
I must ignore them.
Confidence, red-orange
confidence swells.

I love my people.
Yellow-green
cannot, will not prevail.
I, eighty-season,
new Rainbow
am strong.

*
*
*

Each color has
its own place.
It must not break
free.
The Rainbow is
perfect balance
harmony, blue-violet
Harmony.
Tasriel,
every good trait
that exists
I must be.

Every shade, every
color, every
luster
I must be.

*
*
*

My people expect me
to understand every
thought, whim, wish
concern, problem
from each set of
eyes.
Only then am I
objective
set-black
Impartial.

*
*
*

Days stretch and
merge together.
Colors shift and
fade. They are
beginning
to blend.
One into another.
I sit in my
blue-violet throne
the seat of
harmony.

My people bring
their problems
for me to solve.
Today I falter
confused
Lost for a moment.

I refuse to
fail.
Twenty seasons
I have toiled to become
the perfect Rainbow.

So much for
perfect.
An indistinct,
dull
Rainbow is
worthless.
Lasts but little.

*
*
*

I am all colors and
I am none.
The Rainbow
With no color of
My own.

Is it such a
surprise
that brilliant, shining
Rainbows fade so
quickly?

*
*
*

New day. Magenta-Lilac-Chocolate
favors velvet
rich-dark emerald
Velvet today.

No. No velvet, I insist.
Pink, rosy-pink muslin.
Muslin is smooth.
Velvet feels rough
unnatural
on bare peachy-pink.

Magenta-Lilac-Chocolate sighs, but persists.
Crowd. Colorful-bright
people.
Emerald velvet. The people smile.
Rosy muslin. They are
unhappy. Frowns
are etched on their
bright faces.

I sigh, and relent.
Sunny-rose muslin
fades away.
Emerald velvet pulls
roughly
over peachy-pink.

*
*
*

Hazy-cool-blue
evening.
Drawing-pad, pencils
vivid-bright, lustrous
paints call.
I love the
smell feel sight sound
ooze of paint
over fingers.

Magenta-Lilac-Chocolate tugs shimmering
blonde straight-smooth.
Her thoughts are fixed.
Bright, boisterous
many people, much noise
Party.

Formal boring pointless
required.
Evening lost forever.
I hate this part of The Rainbow.

*
*
*

Colors, day-bright
colors dance across
emerald lawns.
Jewel-toned dragonflies
hover above sparkling
fountains, white-marble
fountains.
Children, my people’s children
frolic, their clothes
sun-hued, painted light
by the sky.

But I am dull.
My colors are
fading.
If I must live
like this,
I will not
survive
long.

*
*
*

I know now why
my mother
wept
when I inherited
her job.

A week later
she died.

*
*
*

My life is becoming
a sea of darkness.
I want to keep on,
to help my people.
But I cannot keep on
like this.
And if something doesn’t
change
I’ll die.
I can’t help my people if
I’m dead.

*
*
*

Today I woke up
and couldn’t see
the colors.
I am
fading out of
sight.
There is but one
thing left to
do.

* * *

White-bright-blank.
Uniform.
I am no Rainbow.
I am nothing if
I cannot be myself.
Not Tasriel.
Not The Rainbow.
Just Turquoise-Gold
Just me.

* *
*

Blackness wanes.
Crimson. The beams crawl up the trees.
Sun. Scarlet sun bathing white linen
in light.
Heat. Heat is red. White linen is warm.
Cold, cold blue-white basin. Rush
of cool blue over peachy-pink.

Magenta-Lilac-Chocolate glides inside.
I am in her thoughts.
Tasriel, and crimson satin.

No. No satin, I demand. Rosy
white-pink muslin. I turn
away.
She is confused. I try
again.

Not Tasriel.
Not The Rainbow, I
say. I am done
being every color.
I am just Turquoise-Gold.
Just me.