This poem is taken from PN Review 233, Volume 43 Number 3, January - February 2017.
Variations of Beige & other poems
Three Poems
Variations of Beige
We walked
uninvited
into the next village, with the locals exchanged
acute mutual
observation,
and were duly derided by ten-year-old warriors,
waving their French books.
I was struck by
the extraordinary variations of beige
– cream, stone, buff, dun, sand –
it took to make
a desert contrast with flat blue, time-blue, sky,
and the extra shades
– ochre, honey,
sienna, taupe, fawn, drab, khaki – required
for camouflaging
...
We walked
uninvited
into the next village, with the locals exchanged
acute mutual
observation,
and were duly derided by ten-year-old warriors,
waving their French books.
I was struck by
the extraordinary variations of beige
– cream, stone, buff, dun, sand –
it took to make
a desert contrast with flat blue, time-blue, sky,
and the extra shades
– ochre, honey,
sienna, taupe, fawn, drab, khaki – required
for camouflaging
...
The page you have requested is restricted to subscribers only. Please enter your username and password and click on 'Continue':
If you have forgotten your username and password, please enter the email address you used when you joined. Your login details will then be emailed to the address specified.
If you are not a subscriber and would like to enjoy the 288 issues containing over 11,600 poems, articles, reports, interviews and reviews,
why not subscribe to the website today?