The Pantone of Love

Planets colliding, circa 1977
When the seamy streets of NYC
Were teaming with all the colors
And flavors of the rainbow.
But dare to color outside the lines?

Barely a decade after the Civil Rights Act stamped into law,
To set the staid stations of the world on a tilt?
Oh no you didn’t! Oh yes I did!
To dare to blend the pantone colors of skin?
Into the walking garment of love and life
To shine brightly and bravely in the light of day
We did.

Traversing the seedy, graffiti ridden #7 line together,
The Guardian Angels stood sentinel,
While we bore the hostile stares and unspoken jeers
That brought tears and hidden strength
To their fiery walk of joined hearts and souls
Needed to withstand the vitriol and recriminations
Of public faces or private thoughts and gestures.
As well as family dire warnings of the hidden perils
Of miscegenation and doom to all future generations.

We stood bravely together amidst the battleground
Of insults spoken and unspoken
And of crackling hidden violence awaiting to erupt.
Beneath the genteel surfaces of faces
That espoused equality for “others”
But not us – in our lifetime!

Deep expresso and crème pantones
Never meant to mingle.
Never meant to join hearts, souls and voices,
To propel progeny into this universe
During our lifetime and those around us.

Walking on eggshells, shocked covert glances
Indicted us to the basest of sexual terrains.
Never to see the complexities of destinies of conjoined lifetimes,
Meant to be braved to bring forth into this world
An extraordinary gift of their daughter of café au lait pantone.
The healing of centuries and lifetimes set into motion
Presuppositions detonated
As they gazed into the face of her exquisite being
With one fell swoop – her birth heralded a New Age.
A time where African and Irish descent sit at the familial table
As one family – one heart.
Where the Universe’s eye is expanded.
By the exquisite love of the light of her eyes
And the promise of a New Earth
She is loved and cherished
No sins the father visited seven generations times seven of miscegenation.
She is the bridge between the worlds and beyond,
And for a season, she brings great joy and fruit of their union.
Invisible are the hidden glances and grumblings at the sight
Of this Pantone story of love.
They have united forces in love and created a miracle
That goes beyond Pantone expectations,
And have become the true tone of love