We are all people of color. In this vein, the Anthropocene is the red of iron
oxide, hermatite, the Greek word for blood, worked by humans in Africa a
hundred thousand years or so ago, "etching lines and hashtag patterns."

We circulate red corpuscles under our skin. Angry, we may "see red," or
get "hot under the collar." As a Master of Fire, the blacksmith forges red-
hot "weapons that shed blood, and tools that wound the earth."

A few weeks before the dry season begins, scarred with runnels the earth
drinks its fill. Sand is compacted and softened. Rocks peep out from their
ancient bed. A rabbit stops in the middle of the road unsure which way to

turn. Unknown Territory, white on my childhood's map, is now "red snow,
a common algal habitat blooming

after the   onset of   melting."

 

 

etching lines: M. Erard, "Is this 100,000-year-old hashtag the first humanmade symbol—or just a pretty decoration?" Science. April 20, 2018.
Master of Fire: "the divine smith works with fire while the warror god, by his furer, magically produces fire in his own body." M. Elaide, The Forge and the Crucible. New York, 1962.
weapons that shed: D. Zahan, "White Red and Brack: Color Symbolism in Black Africa." In, Color Symbolism: Erano Excerpts. Zurich, 1977.
red snow: S. Lutz, et al., "The biogeography of red snow microbiomes and their role in melting arctic glaciers." Nature Communications. June 22, 2016.