on a shelf in the garage
the aqua of my room when i was in grade school
a neon green that painted a desk
a yellow that was used for the kitchen walls
i think when i was in the eighth grade
a brown used to paint a fort
from a summer long ago
the bright orange used for yard chairs
i can remember painting those chairs
on a hot summer day with my stepdad
he pointed out the different brushes to me
and told me how important it was to put on more than one coat
i tried hard not to get any paint on the old jeans i was wearing
but could not keep the drops off
my stepdad just smiled and said it was fine
everyone needs a pair of painting pants
that was why we picked out an old pair of jeans
when we get done here
we will go to the drugstore
you can get a couple comics
spider man and the hulk
and an ice cream cone
you really did a good job
mom came to the back door
with two glasses of lemonade
lunch soon
come in and clean up
that must have been around 1971
the chairs were in the backyard
long after my stepfather left
one day our neighbor rented a bin
to throw out all the things he did not want to take
when he moved
just throw anything in you want
lots of room
my mom pointed to the orange chairs
now broken and sun faded
throw those in the bin
no one has used them for years
that was the year before i went into the army
fall of 1983
now i pick up the can of orange paint
to take it to the recycling center
thinking of my stepdad for the first time in awhile
noticing the old brush
laid across the rusty lid
orange faded to dull brown
as i brush away the cobwebs.