The Nature of Color

When our universe burst into existence,

Evolution had not invented the eye yet,

So yellow and blue were merely wavelengths

Frequencies, not concepts.

For ages, Earth’s forests remained unseen;

The lushest shades of untamed green

Those ancient forests would surely have been

Had “green” then been a thing.

And what is the wavelength considered "green"?

Five to six hundred (nm)? Somewhere in between,

But “green” also depends on the wiring

Of the mind in each living being.

A fly may see grey where we see gold,

Fish may know colors to us unknown,

An alien may have different rods and cones

And even "hear" the spectrum of light.

It’s fortunate, though, that you and I

Are both human and similar in design,

With familiar subjective experience,

And colors that we can agree with.

So that I can say that when we first met,

“La vie” was a shade of rose and scarlet;

The entire universe had yet

More colors than stars, with you.

Now, I am a sad cliché shade of blue,

And around me I see only dampened hues,

A once color-filled world is now dull grey

That a scientist might even say:

Yes, color depends on reflected light,

On rods and cones, and brain design,

But perhaps equally on love and life,

On joy and pain and strife.