the rainbow effect

like when i walked the streets of new york city, and the sun would shine on the cold pavement as fall came in, the dazzling colors blinding you until you turned and looked elsewhere.

i always look for rainbows when it rains, a childish habbit...or rather, a habbit from childhood. i always wanted to get a closer look, see the colors in a more focused way. for me, rainbows were in the sky, not an optical phenomenon. and how i loved playing with shiny objects in the sun, just to get a glimpse of those colors. crystals are the best, creating a kaleidescope of violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red.

the colors mesh with each other, accepting their differences and creating something beautiful. i wonder if rainbows have a smell. what would it be like? perhaps sweet yet citrusy, warm and deep, layered and fresh. and what would it feel like to touch a rainbow? perhaps misty, soft and airy, tingling the fingertips at contact. so...ephemeral.

Do not all charms fly
At the mere touch of cold philosophy?
There was an awful rainbow once in heaven:
We know her woof, her texture; she is given
In the dull catalogue of common things.
Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine –
Unweave a rainbow

~ John Keats, from "Lamina"