Colours II

It seems, sometimes,
ochures,
burnished, strong,
of the plains and deserts
are the colours
that best
feed the soul;
a deep, tough, enduring
draught
full to overflowing
of the wisest
most powerful knowing.

But there are other shades
for intimate brush strokes
of the tiniest
most delicate kind:
coastal greens
and mountain blues
of the steepest tracks
lined with mountain devil flowers,
softly pink lanterns
for wanderers in the most hidden
valleys,
and rosellas and wrens
and rainbows suspended in rainforest spray
colouring the soul
with tenderness,
nurturing the most exquisite
beauty
imaginable.