we did not Dye in vain!
by michael r. burch

(from “songs of the sea snails”)

though i’m just a slimy crawler,
     my lineage is proud:
my forebears gave their lives
     (oh, let the trumps blare loud!)
so purple-mantled Royals
     might stand out in a crowd.

i salute you, fellow loyals,
     who labor without scruple
as your incomes fall
     while deficits quadruple
to swaddle unjust Lords
     in bright imperial purple!

Originally published by The American Dissident

Notes: In ancient times the purple dye produced from the secretions of purpura mollusks (sea snails) was known as “Tyrian purple,” “royal purple” and “imperial purple.” It was greatly prized in antiquity, and was very expensive according to the historian Theopompus: “Purple for dyes fetched its weight in silver at Colophon.” Thus, purple-dyed fabrics became status symbols, and laws often prevented commoners from possessing them. The production of Tyrian purple was tightly controlled in Byzantium, where the imperial court restricted its use to the coloring of imperial silks. A child born to the reigning emperor was literally porphyrogenitos ("born to the purple") because the imperial birthing apartment was walled in porphyry, a purple-hued rock, and draped with purple silks. Royal babies were swaddled in purple; we know this because the iconodules, who disagreed with the emperor Constantine about the veneration of images, accused him of defecating on his imperial purple swaddling clothes!

Keywords/Tags: royal, purple, imperial, Tyrian, Byzantium, porphyry, swaddling, clothes, porphyrogenitos, mollusks, sea snails, royalty, kings, lords, emperors, popes

skin left sore and damage.
My purple flesh leaves marks that signify hate within others.
Pain left from fathers and mothers, sister and brothers, friends or foe.
I  believe the skeletons I hide, have more guts than I do.
Being pushed around and abused by those close to me without fighting back.
But I know I would rather take a thousand cuts before giving one.
I may seem so well put together from the outside, but I know on the inside I have been torn apart.

I wanna be more,
than just a child and explore
I wanna fight
This growing blight

Feelings are genuine
Stars and moon aren't perfectly align
So we drink this purple wine
For this purple war between this line

Let our emotions pour
Anger and fight we search for more
Hurtful words they follow
Feelings of tomorrow

Here we are still fighting
We have flaws, I know we're now admitting,
Stay, we have more stories to be written
We don't have to go we'll just be smitten.

This exchange of words we dealt
We'll probably felt it everyday
This emotions we feel won't decay
This fight of love will repay

So many colors in the world
too many to see
and pick from.
people that have a favorite color
astound me.
How can you choose something that
stands out in a world of beauty?
Who am I to say that green is my favorite color
on a day when I am clearly feeling blue?
Tell me something I don't know about a color,
and I will absorb into my skin
and live in the pigment.
But show me a pretty flower and suddenly
I'm consumed by red.
Let me smell a beautiful scent
that reminds me of purple,
or a song that screams magenta
and I am nothing but the rainbow.

Opening
Shining
Angel of the Sun
Each Color of the Rainbow
One by one                            
Red
Orange
Yellow
Orange  
Blue
Purple

Dancing together
within the  white crown of unity.
Twinkling and shining
Mirroring the universe within
Yes,  sea of green leaves in a
Breath of the blue azure sky!

Rainbows from violet to magenta
Together within my crystalline gift
Forever within the heart of unity!

My dear Angel of the Sun
You have blessed me with
The fire of life!

A knowing  intuition,
Echoes, we are all
Suns within the Universal Heavens!

Reaching out with her warmth,
"My dear Butterfly, fly!"
"My dear Angel of Sun, thank you."

You pretend you’re alright,
laugh when you’re sad,
hide your true feelings;
never show if you’re mad.
Keep to yourself
does no good to fight,
simply try your best
to stay out of sight.

Here in this world
of black and white
you just don’t fit
so you live in the night;
hide your color
in a heart so deep
and dream of rainbows
in your sleep.

But deep inside
a greater light shines
through pain and sorrow,
space and time.
There’s red and green,
yellow and blue,
pink and orange
and yes, purple too.
A lasting assurance
that beyond the fears
you’re not alone
with all those tears.
You are seen and loved,
this you know;
the rainbow’s there
to tell you so.

But it’s hard in your dark reality
in the world of black and white,
no one appreciates the color purple
until they see you there in the light.