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How Now Brown Cow?

No one ever says brown is their favorite color- it's not bright, it's not vibrant, and it's not very beautiful. It is earthy. It is natural. It is skin, soil, butterfly wing, and death. It is, perhaps the deepest color of the earth, as well as the most elevated. How 'bout them brown apples?


~Brown~ 

What are you that brings sweat to men's brows
as they tear you apart,
reaping and forcing you to give for centuries?
You thirst for the rain, sweet martyr, 
while they thirst for your very last fruit.

What are you that men will kill thousands
of their brethren,
holding you hostage along with their own brothers?
You must quietly drink the blood they have spilled,
weeping silently as they mar your skin with shallow mines.

What are you that an exile longs to crawl back
to your warm womb
rather than seek riches elsewhere?
 He will lower his lips in a fervor of
final peace
as he kisses that which can be his only home.

What are you that men shamelessly use you for
their huts and homes?
They will selfishly move you over and over,
never understanding that you belong to the earth’s core,
that you cannot be owned, bought, or gifted away.

What are you that tirelessly feeds and replenishes
all life in this world?
Unconscious of your own nature, you give your finest elements
to those who will forget you
once they are nourished.

You are the soil of revolution and war
You are the cacao that rejuvenates the hungry.
You are the umber that 
colors the world,
the earth from where we come
and to where we shall return.
~ P. Desai

(Ali Baug- 01/01/2010, 365 Project, P. Desai)

Comments

  1. Sheena T AbrahamApril 14, 2015 at 9:29 AM

    There was a time when my daughter was 2 that brown was her favorite color, and she would always use the brown marker. It gave me satisfaction that pink wasn't the first thing she reached for! Now she's all about the pink, but for a brief period, I loved that she loved brown!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sheena T AbrahamApril 14, 2015 at 9:29 AM

    There was a time when my daughter was 2 that brown was her favorite color, and she would always use the brown marker. It gave me satisfaction that pink wasn't the first thing she reached for! Now she's all about the pink, but for a brief period, I loved that she loved brown!

    ReplyDelete
  3. PoonamApril 15, 2015 at 8:09 PM

    That's so cool! It really is an under appreciated color =)

    ReplyDelete

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