John Anderson Poet Lyric

Notes About The Poem

Back in 2002, a team of astronomers set out on an unusual quest: to discover the average color of the entire universe. They gathered the light from more than 200,000 galaxies and fed the data into their computers, hoping to distill all the stars, nebulae, and cosmic dust into a single shade. The answer seemed surprisingly beautiful. The universe, they announced, was a delicate pale Turquoise. For a brief moment, the cosmos appeared to have the taste of an artist, painted in the color of tropical seas and precious gemstones. But the celebration was short-lived. While checking their work, the researchers discovered a small white-balance error hidden in their software. The universe itself had not changed color; only their calculation had. Once the bug was corrected, the grand turquoise cosmos vanished. In its place stood a much humbler shade: a warm, creamy BEIGE. Amused by the anticlimax, the astronomers gave this cosmic average color a playful name— ' Cosmic Latte ' - the color of a very large cup of milk coffee!

Listen to poem:

Ode to a Cosmic Latte Universe

They told us once, after scans of charts,
After many false starts and restarts,
That all creation, both near and far,
Was tinted like a tropical sea star.

A pale Turquoise! A splendid hue!
The sort you'd paint a dragon's shoe.
Or perhaps your house, so it glowed,
With sun-washed pastels all bestowed.

I bragged about it far and wide.
Our universe had style and pride!
Not dull, not drab, not flat white—
The cosmos sparkles with a turquoise light.

I donned the celestial-themed décor.
Turquoise curtains, cushions, rugs galore.
I chose my socks to match those distant suns.
Even dressed my dog with it for park runs.

Then came the news! A bug! A flaw!
A coding hiccup, a mistake, an ERROR!
The white balance had been set askew—
The program was rerun to find what's true.

And what, my friend, was the color they got?
The color was BEIGE! Surely no! Surely not! 
BEIGE! the world's most boring tint and hue.
The color of mud, and weak milk-tea brew.

Tepid, creamy beige, it so lacks flair.
It's the color of a dentist's chair.
The shade of porridge left to cool.
Of sensible shoes, and evening school.

They named it "Cosmic Latte!" Yeah Amen!
As as joke to make us forget back then,
The universe had style and panache,
Not this vague beige celestial goulash!

I mourn the Turquoise now its gone,
A victim of a computer picking a crayon,
That stood out; bright, fresh and keen,
With artist's heart bent on turquoise-green!

♡Like0

Share Poem

---

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Alison A Smith June 23, 2026 at 10:33 PM I hope you always are you. Scientific, romantic and everything else.

Alison A Smith June 23, 2026 at 8:58 PM What a wonderful play on the discovery of the colour of the universe. Now one wants to ask can computers be color blind and thus beige and not turquoise. Loved the audio a lovely seafaring jig. John Anderson June 23, 2026 at 10:30 PM It's a bit scientific but that's me I guess!