It's just

the memory of the sky.

Blue.
And maybe it only seemed so blue

because it was the first time i noticed

just how blue it was,

or that it was blue at all.

Sure, i knew.

Enough to offer that up as my answer when asked,

but this was the first time i saw it

and i finally realised what was meant

by the words

"the sky is blue."

It seems so simple, until you look at it.

And the grass.

It had been green for as long as i'd rolled around in it.

Buried dead canaries

beneath it.

Ripped out patches in my small fist

and chewed upon it.

It was green when i spit it out.

Also then, were my tongue and my teeth.

It had always been green.

Gramma told me stories

from when

she

was a little girl,

and that the grass had been green then too.

My mother told the same stories,

and likewise was the grass green when she was a child.

But now, as i looked around

i realised what it meant

for the grass to be green.

It seems so simple, until you look at it.

I do not recall a cloud in the sky on that day.

Not to say

they weren't there.

I'm sure they were.

But i could not see them.

Perhaps they were hidden behind houses,

or under the leaves of the trees.

Those still giants that stood in our yard,

branches like arms

casting evils away.

And their leaves, were green as well.

Voices whisper in the background

and everything smells like lemonade and potato salad.

I could barely see the ones i loved because it was too beautiful.

A different kind of brightness than i had seen

when i would sit and stare directly into the sun.

Wondering

how strong my eyes

were.

How long

was i able to stand

watching it burn in the sky.

But it was early afternoon

and i just kept looking west.

Soon enough

it would be

there.

Soon enough we all would.

Settling into our darkness.

But for this moment,

of which

i speak,

the grass became truly green,

and the leaves on the trees.

The voices whispered

loud enough

that i knew they would echo forever.

And the sky,

it was blue.

It seemed so simple until you looked at it.

But if you learned

to look away,

for

just a second,

it was so obvious

that you just laughed.