City Colors

The city colors cling to us like chalk dust.

Shades and hues of life stick to the soles of our worn boots, and leave vibrant footprints across centuries-old cobblestones.

Gray evening fogs blurred into blue skies overhead.

Gleaming white clouds mirrored the marble museum tiles beneath our feet.

Our noses turned pink as we waited for an endless cycle of

red and green

green and red

red and green lights.

Buildings the colors of sand and stone created a deep canyon around us.

We waded through streams of shining black shoes in Paris,

of brown fur coats in Vienna,

and of dyed deep-plum hair in Budapest.

We explored the minute details and differences

in the chestnut tones of cappuccinos,

and the auburn hues of beers.

From ornate gold trimmings of palaces to painted pastel townhouses

the city colors enveloped us.

Even if we shake off the settled silt of colorful dust, smears and smudges stay. The pigments might fade with time, but the rainbow of the cities and our memories remains.