That shade of blue that I’m not likely to ever articulate,

(not to anyone’s satisfaction at least,

myself being the hardest to please)

has wrapped itself around my mood.

My eyes haunt the sky for a faint comparison,

but for all its amplitude

and tonal range

it has limits

and lacks

gravity

and incandescence.

I had thought they enveloped all of infinity,

as if some hand had drawn the oceans

into a perfect moon and halved it.

Blue is altogether inadequate.

Azure,

Indigo,

Cerulean,

Aquamarine.

None of these,

Not one of these.

No, not one…

Vincent Van Gogh was said to have had eyes of China Blue,

but I bet, yes I’d wager, he had nothing on you.

04/23/2004

Author's Note: This is my favorite of the many Van Gogh self-portraits from the Musee D'Orsay that most clearly illustrates the China Blue eyes that Vincent was so famous for. Written in response to a fellow poet's kind compliment.

Posted on 04/23/2004
Copyright © 2025 Lacy D Phillips