Pantone, I am begging you,
no more colors of the year.
Let them all share the top spot.
Make it cool to spend Sand Dollars
wherever its desert beige will soothe.
We should toast Mimosa in perpetuity,
drinking in its yellow knowing
the sun has plenty left to spare.
As for Emerald, just try ignoring it;
the grass will wear nothing else.
A wall swathed in Radiant Orchid
will continue to bring the heat,
even if its namesake loses its petals.
Living Coral should reign immortal.
The decisions we’ve been making
about the climate, foreign aid and
reproductive rights might seem
like a solid business case for
coating the entire world in black.
All the more reason to give us
the fullest palette you possibly can.
If we ever manage to weather
the storm we’re living through now,
just imagine the kind of rainbow
we’ll need to paint at the end of it.
Shane Schick has had poems published in literary magazines across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Africa and India. He lives in Whitby, Ont. More: ShaneSchick.com/poetry