THINGS TO SAY ABOUT BROWN

think of brown, the disregarded colour, seen but overlooked….

where is the brown segment in the spectrum? if you split light brown does not fall out.

too earthy for the theorists, too modest for display, excluded from the rainbow, it still has range and depth, it is adaptable, it’s practical and plain.

it comes near red but hot red turns away to mix with sunny yellow, blend with peaceful blue.

how would we grow without brown? it holds green up to the sky,

it nourishes.

it stands next to grey and is humble.

muddle all the colours and you will find brown there

(in my experience.)

some say it’s just a tone, like black or white, but that is quite unfair. brown has warmth: white things turn brown in ovens, pink people go brown in the sun.

brown is old, it bears the smears of time, the stain, the smudge of memory. brown is not outworn. brown is useful, brown is everyday.

or as rich as the burnished auburn of a new conker.

we might just eulogise a little, we might extol....

the autumn field. the soft forest.

soon now all the leaves will be autumns, there will be nakedness among trees

and everything a still brown that is almost grey.