Brown

The eleventh in a 12-part series on Colour.

It’s not a colour you notice. It’s a wood floor you stand on, it’s a door you walk through, it’s the trunks of trees whose leaves you look at. And when it’s on cats, it’s the classiest, most inimitable shade of brown you can find.

What is Brown? 

Brown is the color of a country road,
back of a turtle, back of a toad.
Brown is cinnamon and morning toast
and the good smell of the Sunday roast.
Brown is the color of work and the sound of a river,
Brown is bronze and a bow and a quiver.
Brown is the house on the edge of town
where wind is tearing the shingles down.
Brown is a freckle, Brown is a mole
Brown is the earth when you dig a hole.
Brown is the hair on many a head
Brown is chocolate and gingerbread.
Brown is a feeling you get inside
when wondering makes your mind grow wide.
Brown is a leather shoe and a good glove —
Brown is as comfortable as love.

                                              Mary O’Neill 

Tagged as: colour