Fishing Both Sides of the River

Fishing Both Sides of the River

for Mike James

by Cheryl A. Rice

Between heaven and Earth is orange,

the binger I’ve been missing all my life.

Only the fish you catch can see in color,

but the ones that can tend to stay

on the right side of the bank.

the reds around me, peevish, gregarious,

shy away from the unmitigated optimism

that is yellow. I see now

orange as the missing link,

mediator who can bring these

two disparate sides of my palette

back to sanity, plum a distant cousin,

aquamarine the troublesome hue

that started all the fuss.