Red

Red

Red

haunts and soothes

loves and destroys.

Hints of ancient hematite remain

and lithol landscapes fade.

Pink shadows in Carolina sunsets

and feathered cardinals in silent forests.

Minium accents in the mahogany coffin

and crimson roses sail out to sea.

Cinnabar curls

and terracotta freckles.

Scarlet defiance

and cadmium stubbornness--

stains of my grief.

Red

at the end of the visible spectrum

where life illuminates

and death disappears.