Remembering in Color

Red,
but not Santa Claus red,
reddish,
with a tinge of orange,
like the shade of lipstick
Caroline sometimes wore
to our book club meetings.
That's the red of the quilt
my mother is sewing,
from fabric that once belonged
to Caroline,
who, only months ago,
while describing a young and
carefree female character
in one of our books,
actually uttered the word,
"flibbertigibbet"
with a girlish smile
on those reddish lips.

Green
is the color
of the frog pin
that I brought her
for luck,
and for her collection
of frog things,
when I found out
about her tumor.
Emerald green
like the color of
her lush front yard
where she used to
wave to me
on her way
to the mailbox.