What color is the night sky?
Can I paint it?
It is dark
But not without light
Is it so mysteriously black
Swirling within a profoundly purple sea
Is it the deepest darkest most infinite blue?
What are the colors of the stars?
They scintillate as jewels
Diamonds, topaz, emeralds
Rubies, amethyst and sapphires
I see them but I can not touch them
I perceive them from afar but I can not feel the warmth of their fire
Such distance
Such depth
So far away
And the moon
Is it a brilliant reflective silver?
It’s surface a mottled pearl
Luminescent beyond description?
What color is the night sky?
Can I fathom it?
Can I capture it?
Can I paint it?
What color is the night sky?
It is the color of longing

Martha Day

Fall 2007