All the shades of blue

that first hue of blue after the fallen sun and the last before the pitch black

Photograph by Summer Wagner

All the shades of blue

Who am I?
I can't seem to hold onto it.

I remember a time I was ancient,
a time I was all the shades of blue at twilight,
a time I swam in an indigo vat,
a time I flew south on my pelican wings
and a time I flew north.

I must have changed shape a hundred times
and more, never still for long—

somewhere on the long journey home
between two hemispheres,
the vat filled and the vat used up,
that first hue of blue after the fallen sun
and the last before the pitch black.

Sometime a thousand years ago,
and then this evening that is yet to come,
when the rain clears and we emerge
from this cabin in the woods
to the water's edge,
I'll put on my wings
as all the shades of blue 
are on their way,
perhaps hidden behind clouds,
unknowable,
who knows yet—

I cannot hold onto it.

Thoth Adan, Breath Meditation N°50, azurite pigment on washi, 50 x 70 cm

photograph by Li Hui

iris yirei hu, the invocation of the spirit blue child, 2024

Lucy Mu Li, Light me a path to follow into the sea, v & vi, 2025

Dear ones,

It’s been a little minute since my Substack has been up and running, and since then it has gone through a name change and I have gone through many layers of metamorphosis. I will let the writing to come speak for itself—for now, I offer you this poem, a soft hello. Thank you for being here, for converging rivers with me on our way to the sea.

With love,

Lucy

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