Shades of Brown
Lauren McBride
I try to remember
the colors of Earth:
blue sky arching overhead,
white clouds floating,
green growth in abundance,
riot of red and orange
at sunset and autumn,
palette of pastels come spring.
But all turns ghostly here
in gas miners’ hell
running robot extractors
between binary
brown dwarf suns.
Photos of Earth
turn drab in their dull light –
monochrome hues
a poor reminder of colors
unimaginable now,
already fading
from memory.
First published in Tales of the Talisman 9:1, 2013
