I can see a color
that you don't know you see.
It's not one on a color wheel,
it doesn't have a frequency.
But this color, like the others,
mixes with the rest.
Catch it at the edge of leaves,
at dawn or some sunsets.
When it mixes with the blues
of a brand new sky
the air up there takes on a depth,
reaching rather high.
When it's down with brown or reds,
like clay, or mud, or dirt
it sends them back and makes them flat,
closer to the Earth.
But this color plays the best,
with every shade of green.
When it's shining on the flora,
the world wears a sheen.
Oranges golden, yellow shimmers,
underglows galore
you've seen it even if you didn't
know it had a name before.
A camera's white balance
is a bias to the capture,
a shift of hues and vibrancy,
but what if it went backward?
Take away the data
and that balance is none other
than a particularly odd and faint
orange or blueish color.
So it is with my favorite one, it's a shine
that shifts and lifts the shades we see,
spectrums turned sublime.
Only for some dozen minutes,
with the longest kinds of rays
sunlight at the start or finish,
bookends on the clearer days.
One more way to think about it,
known to those in Hollywood
is called the "Golden Hour",
when the footage turns out good.
But considering the axis
that the planet spins around
the distance changes from the sun
to your spot of ground.
So the place you're in
has its own special golden hour
different than the Golden Bridge,
or the Eiffel Tower.
If you spend some time within it,
it only takes a little visit
your mind will find the local golden hour
quite exquisite.
I've kept the name close to my chest,
please don't be alarmed
there's just not much that rhymes
with Pacific Illusory Orange.
But every word is chosen
to evoke the thoughts above.
It's a kind of orange that radiates,
a bit of solar love.
It's only an illusion,
it doesn't have a measure.
It's only seen by the serene,
the silly, and the clever.
It's unique to where we are,
surreptitious and specific
sun rays skipping off the waves
of the cold Pacific.
So next time when the world starts
to glow that special way
early in the morning
when the stars are tucked away,
I hope you give your eyes the time
to notice something new:
the Pacific Illusory Orange
that a wizard showed to you.
Enjoying my poetry? I have over 70 of my best poems from 2018-2022 in a collection called Laser Fractal Space Magic. Available digitally and in paperback.