Some things that are red in nature have no red         
in their names, like blood, cherry, and starfish.
But see these many words: admired, adventured,
shred, mirrored, hired, watered, even the title.
They are carrying red all about on their lips
like the red beaks of pied oystercatchers
crowded by the shoreline breaking open
the shells of mollusks, or on the wet sand
and mud, moving things around.

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I wrote this poem few months ago, when I came, perhaps late, to the consciousness of red. Suddenly, I start to see red even in the most unlikely places.