It was childhood enchantment in the form of song
Which first awoke in me, the rainbow-lover
Entranced as ‘Dorothy’ sang of
Her wish to someday fly far over
She not understanding, as I now do,
That rainbows only exist from a limited point of view
(Or perhaps she might have chosen instead to hover)
Now so many sects of people
Seem resolute on claiming the rainbow
Exclusively for their separate cause to use
Some with reverent sighs, claming the rainbow as sign
Of solemn promise their God once set against the sky
While the gaiety of the rainbow hues
Are proudly waived as flag by some alternate crews
(Which fundamentalists rarely welcome as good news)
Some declare the rainbow an emblem of diversity
Yet should you query those at the University
Mere prismatic refraction of sunlight creates these views
Is the Rainbow simply a natural phenomenon?
Or somehow innately related to karma?
By what reason does it inspire such melodrama?
Having not the least desire to argue
I will never debate with others, or with you,
Regarding claiming as one's due, the rainbow in the sky
(Nor be persuaded by any proffered reason why)
One can create manmade rainbows in any zone
Though I much prefer to view
Those transient arches occasioning the sky
Each rainbow offers beauty of its own
A fleeting apparition which light alone
By transecting water droplets can supply
The rainbow’s color array is far from random
Displaying the light spectrum in proper tandem
And many an artist’s pallet draws therefrom
There is pleasing perfection in this order
Something nothing else in nature seems to border
Individual elements of lightwaves briefly unbound
That’s all the rainbow really ever needs to be
So in appreciating each and every one I see,
Henceforth the one properly claiming the rainbow – will be me.