December is the month with the least amount of light and by 5 p.m. I am ready for an early dinner and bedtime — there is genius in why bears hibernate in the winter. But for us humans, hibernation is not an option however we do get something very special in December— the holidays and the lights — the delicately draped lights on houses and the lights shinning in the windows from the Hanukah menorahs. I love the lights and it makes me realize how much I love color. Hailstones and Halibut Bones (an ‘oldie but goodie’) by Mary O’Neill is one of my favorite books of poetry that takes me into the world of colors.
Treat yourself this holiday season (and the rest of the year for that matter) and dip into this odyssey of the colors of the rainbow.
Here is one poem from her collection.
The colors live
Between black and white
In a land that we
Know best by sight.
Isn’t everything,
For colors dance
And colors sing,
And colors laugh
And colors cry—
Turn off the light
And colors die,
And they make you feel
Every feeling there is
From the grumpiest grump
To the fizziest fizz.
And you and you and I
Know well
Each has a taste
And each has a smell
And each has a wonderful
Story to tell…
