Color

He believed if the woman on the right moved over to the left he could
place her into the frame where a meadow lay beyond her. But it did
not work out that way. The moon came up too early. The glow the
moon cast lit up the shadow behind the wheelbarrow. No one could
advance in the shattering moonlight. The film begins to take the
shape of a milk bottle with the heavy cream on top.

He blamed everything on the use of color. The heavy woman who
played the woodcutter's wite wanted to lay some emeralds on her
bosom. They are the color of trees, she says. The skin of the leading
actor was the color of ferns which do not blend with the pastel
process that turns the clouds to pastel. The girl's knee is supposed to
be grey when she bends it, not the color of blood. The voice coming
from the elderberries is colorless, indicating melancholy. He remem-
bers the alluring depths in film without color when tears were dark
as drops talling from a raven's mouth. Once again his efforts have
been emptied of meaning.

(1999)