The moment I awakened, I

could sense the green air filling up my lungs.

My heart was held by orange lullabies.

My ears were touched by the sound of her hums.

A childlike laughter filled the canvas ‘til

their red words pierced through my soft paper heart.

Since then, my world’s gone mute like a film still.

And grays were all that I could tell apart.

Sweet yellow droplets made good company.

The scent of first love looked like soft pastels.

The stars deceived my eyes, for they showed me

the bitter aftertaste of a farewell.

My palette makes a color so unknown.

But it is one that I can call my own.

About the author: Caila Espiritu is a Philippine-born & Hong Kong-raised Contemporary English Studies student. She enjoys writing poems, short stories, and song lyrics. She also loves dancing, with hip hop as her main style. Verbalizing her ideas as a quiet and reserved person can be challenging, but she finds her way around it through these hobbies. Her current goals regarding writing are: 1) to further explore her style, 2) to try out different genres, and 3) to possibly pursue a writing career. You can find her on Instagram: @cai.exp.

Judge’s comments: “‘Living in Color’ offers a series of vibrant and often textural transformations of the everyday; I particularly like ‘green air filling up my lungs’ and ‘my world went mute like a film still.’ I enjoy how colours and images such as this are allowed to speak for themselves; the emotions attached to them are often hinted at rather than overtly expressed, creating a layer of intrigue. Reading this poem as a whole is a highly vivid and immersive experience.”

—Natalie Linh Bolderston