Scotch and Soda

I once dreamed with a color behind my eyes.

As I woke it began to fade

I chased it; grasped glimpses of it through the day

When I caught up it stayed with me like an old friend.

It left my eyes with the sunlight that day

Chased off by bitterness

Frightened off with the harshness of reality

It stung as it withdrew.

The grey stings before it aches you know.

I remember wishing I could have lived in those golden hours

Wishing my life wasn't more sharp darkness than it was soft sunlight.

I thought maybe this time I would stop

Running from the darkness

And I instead would begin

Chasing the sunlight

Following the color until the night takes on a color of its own

It was a long time until I saw that color again.

Sometimes I made it for myself,

A crude substitute.

I caught glimpses of it in pictures

Heard traces of it in songs

It was like showing a dying man paintings of water.

The memory that we would meet again kept me alive.

Fate was kind to me.

I caught a glimpse of the color through a scent.

This time when I chased it, I captured it

Enraptured it

I found its home and fell in love

Its eyes felt like whiskey

Its voice was a reed

It read me a story of my life and put stars in my mind

It possessed my senses like rose-colored glasses

It invited me to stay

Maybe for a few weeks

Maybe forever

There wasn't a single thing on this earth I wanted more.

You took the color with you when you faded from me, dear.

All I can do is hope it will come back someday.

With or without you.