the lessening of the blue

that we didn't notice we had lost

until we all stopped

and outside

the oil and grease were wiped away from the skies

gently cleaned away

and a brighter sharper line of the buildings in the distance

a yellower sun

a slower pace, as if the storm had abated,

bays gentled by calmer tides

The browning has returned

as if the souring of milk

a taste we had gotten so used to

we hadn't noticed

and now that we have once again tasted

briefly

sweetly,

clean water, air like sunshine

we know it more

we will yearn for it again

perhaps secretly

and in dreams

revisit quiet times

and bluer skies