WHAT IS YELLOW?

By Mary O'Neill

Taken from the collection of color poetry "Hailstones and Halibut Bones."

What is yellow?

Yellow is the color of the sun
The feeling of fun
The yolk of an egg
A duck's bill
A canary bird
And a daffodil.
Yellow's sweet corn
Ripe oats
Hummingbirds'
Little throats
Summer squash and
Chinese silk
The cream on top
Of Jersey milk
Dandelions and
Daisy hearts
Custard pies and
Lemon tarts.
Yellow blinks
On summer nights
In the off-and-on of
Firefly lights.
Yellow's a topaz,
A candle flame.
Felicity's a
Yellow name.
Yellow's mimosa
And I guess,
Yellow's the color of
Happiness.

This poem was published in 1961, as were the rest of the poems in the collection. Mary O'Neill puts color into a new perspective, giving it taste, smell, and feeling. Although I love many of the poems in her book, this one is my favorite. My favorite line is, "Felicity's a yellow name." It makes sense, does it not? I know I could not list yellow objects so eloquently.

Right now I have a mini-obsession with poetry, so expect to read more of my finds in later posts.