This poem is taken from PN Review 233, Volume 43 Number 3, January - February 2017.
Variations of Beige & other poemsThree 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
...
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