- Vol. 10
- Chapter 12
Non-Human Nature
Whenever I take precious time
out from the commitments
of contemporary life
to trace a path through greenery
with my greenish eyes,
I tend to feel as light
as a bare blue bag
gently swaying in spring air
without a single gram
of contents to weigh it
down.
At such times,
I try not to see green
in scientific or symbolic senses.
I try not to see green
on a microscopic level
as some chemical called chlorophyll.
I try not to see green
as a stylised textbook illustration
of green light
reflected & refracted
off & through surfaces.
I try not to see green
as a secondary colour,
as a certain blend
of two primary colours:
Non-Human Nature
the blue of the sky
combined
with the yellow of the sun
to give green.
I try not to see green
as those visual manifestations—
those green or greenish splashes—
of my most recent bout of synaesthesia
which stemmed from certain sounds
with no clear connections to green.
I try not to see green
as the green pigmentation
that colours my own irises
& the irises of others.
I try not to see green
as a complex symbol
capable of symbolising
amongst the most positive & negative
aspects of human nature.
Whenever I take precious time
out from the commitments
of contemporary life
to trace a path through greenery
with my greenish eyes,
I try to simply empty
my blue mind
& see green
for what it’s long been:
the serenely viridescent
shades of non-human nature.