Day 80: Dorchester
I cross Grey’s Bridge near the Teddy Bear museum,
arrive into a Rothko exploration on canvas.
The countryside behind me, this is nature unsettling.
The sky is thriving. The dust, orange in midday sun,
where it lingers in shadows, a darker red.
The lines have been erased; buildings are a blur.
Consumed by technicolour.
The depth of the street only revealed with every
roll I make further into the painting.
After the bridge, I fall into a palette of emotions.
The dust paints the hairs on my arms, orange.
My trainers turn red. Trousers. Wheels. Red.
The orange of my t-shirt meets the red
of my wasteland.
I have been painted into today.
I close my eyes. For once it isn’t black.
Stephen Lightbrown, "Day 80 Dorchester" from The Last Custodian. Copyright © 2021 by Stephen Lightbrown. Reprinted by permission of Burning Eye Books.