An Ode to Hunter’s Orange
By Maya Critchfield
A call for attention,
caution, and beauty.
A warning, a signal, a spell.
Careful and alert;
flaming bright like fire,
like daylilies, marigolds, egg yolks, setting suns –
something to pay attention to.
Urgent, blaze orange says
I love you,
in the voice of my grandmother.
I want to keep you safe.
100 meters from her door to ours;
I didn’t know until I was grown
what she was saying
when she tugged those bright clothes
over our resistant limbs –
I love you.
I want to keep you safe
as you move through this world.