color by number

"What color is the number 10?"

Is it orange? Or yellow? Perhaps blue or that odd hue of purple that is not quite right unless there is a setting sun falling low on the horizon? There are so many shades it could be, perhaps one day you will share them with me, but until then you sit there in your chair, holding them to your chest, making us guess as to the when, which, where and why. One day you will make me cry in defeat and make me repeat this absurd verse, therefore I will end, with this note to send: beware the days of summer as you sit upon the shores of life for there is no other time when one has the audacity to explore the times of bygone eras and the mistakes made by sages standing too long in the sun, for indeed is not the place for any sage beneath the shade of a tree watching the world pass by?

And so I pause and ask you: what does the color green smell like? What does the fruit see when it is hanging on the limb? What does the voice say about the hour of night? Can you find respite inherent in the folds of a summer day? Can you find a reply to questions that go unheard? Not fit for young ears to sleep until the dawning of time? And what will you tell the future generations of yesterday when they ask: what shade of gray is too white to be seen?

The future is now, the time has come and the days are growing faster than can be heard by those who are willing to listen.