Blue #1
by Shelli Spotts
Start with a charmeuse the color of a dark night sky, a blue so deep it edges into the
formal, and stitch the heavy fabric, shroud-like, into the shape of war and death and
uniformity, military march and drummers beat, bars and stripes on shoulder and breast,
hat, insignia, boot black shod. Tack into gold trim the hope of a generation lost
and mourned and remembered. Fade into the sky the feel of worn calico, threadbare skirts
reworked into age and dignity, the blue of morning and mourning, shirtwaist and apron
and petticoat spread like tattered stars across the scarred wood floor.