Complicated Reality

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.