“Yellow” by Charlie Pappalardo

I have a theory that 

No one truly has a favorite color. 

We all say we do 

But in reality 

Our favorite color is just an answer we formulated 

to a question we knew would inevitably be asked. 

I say my favorite color is Yellow. 

I picked it when I was four because 

Yellow is energetic, 

Happy 

And warm. 

And I guess when you’re four that’s how you feel 

You feel like yellow. 

Yellow isn’t pensive 

It’s not a deep color of reflection or introspection. 

It’s a color of emotion 

Interaction 

Joy. 

Melancholy colors like blue and Green can find ways to imitate happiness

But yellow can’t be what it isn’t. 

It can’t be gloomy. 

It can’t be sad. 

You wouldn’t wear yellow to a funeral because 

That’s just not what Yellow is. 

Sometimes I wonder. 

If no one had ever asked me what my favorite color was

If I didn’t have an answer to that question 

Would I still pick Yellow? 

Do I still feel like Yellow?

Charlie Pappalardo is a writer and poet majoring in Political Science and Economics