The Color Of My Life

By Carol Bradley

“What do you do?” she asked while we slathered warm croissants

with fresh preserves in the golden, morning sun.

I told her about the city, my job, my days.

She was an artist, a florist, a traveller;

nothing of real value in the steel, grey world

I couldn’t leave behind.

The sun was behind her lighting up her wild, blonde-grey hair.

She was happy in this tropical place; alive, fulfilled.

That morning in the sun; the vibrant, vivid village all around me

would change the color of my life.

“What do I do?”  What is important?  Who am I?

not the person in rush hour traffic;

nor the one working 10 hour days.

Ask me again; “What do you do?”

I’m filling my garden with lavender blooms,

learning fiery, red Spanish,

making pale, pink tea.

I’m a mother, sister, wife,

a gardener, dog rescuer...a bit of a writer.