cinnabar · mercury sulfide, ground fine
the colour a candle remembers when it has been put out and the wick
still glows. the colour at the heart of ritual. the colour of the
matchbox in the drawer beside the bed.
vermilion is not the colour of injury; oxblood is. vermilion is the
colour the wound thinks it is in the small moment before it begins to
dry. it is impatient. it lives in vigil and in the first second of pain.
kept in dark rooms. you would not paint a whole wall with it.