chasing indigo
Indigofera tinctoria, True Indigo, a colour of ‘radiant, ineffable beauty’ in the words of Oliver Sacks. ‘ “True indigo is the unicorn of colours, maybe hidden from us, Oliver thought, “because the colour of heaven was not to be seen on Earth.”. Himself a master of wonder, a chaser of mystery, he described indigo as a colour undefined. Poisonous, powerful, its origins unknown, a plant used in some circles for binding spells. Revenge, rebounding, a symbol of endings. This spirit of the unknown, Indigo the Unseen, my morning secret that splinters through my window crystals. I see it on the walls if the sun wants to play. I want to breathe it in and never let go. A birthday present from my mum, wind chimes dripping with crystals. Little portals for prisms of light that make my mornings beautiful. As my morning dragon breathes its fiery breath, I focus away from the pain to those dancing rainbows. Spirits of light, chasing indigo. Squashed between Blue and Violet, where is its throne? Worthy of a rainbow all its own. Evening and now the moon graces the sky. The clouds blushing beneath, do they know indigo, a secret reserved for spirits of perfection? Yet how are we able to even consider what a colour is or isn’t? How is your blue of the same world as mine? Do you see fairies as I see rain? Do you hear endings as I turn the page? ‘The first time I saw heaven’, said Sacks, was when he took hallucinogenics. I think his mind was already amongst the stars and moons, the moment he entered our world. His mind, one of indigo, a radiant, ineffable beauty.
