The Blue

by Adrienne Pilon

While we loved and lived

in that old house, hydrangeas 

bloomed in the front yard

in lavender-kissed blue, 

in soft sky blue. The sun shone. 

Even when winter shivered 

the house glowed warm. 

Someone else lives there now. 

The hydrangeas, stunted

by drought, were dug up.

Succulents took their place,

a steady green: a thick jade

plant with its dewdrop petals;

an aloe, fierce and sturdy;

sempervivum, a cluster of constant.

 But, oh—

that lost blue—