making life on a palette Raina J. León After Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827), “George Washington at Princeton,” 1779 the color of life takes sun yellow and bluest blue sky and water  for green ferns chartreuse buds beading above moss dappled shamrocks fragrant healing of sage, laurel, mint, basil, thyme, rosemary, myrtle amid the tall wonders of juniper pine, olive, pear even the meeting of sea and river— the sky, an intermingling of viridian and chetwode horizons,  and cerulean clarity— offers its green seafoam,  its seaweed pats,  the crocodile at the edge of a freshwater marsh its teeth open gritted in green [...]