my $WANT = "blue";

my @results = $text =~ m/(?:\w+\s+){0,5}
                 (?:$WANT)
                 (?:\s+\w+){0,5}
                 (?:
                 \s+(?:$WANT)
                 (?:\s+\w+){0,5}
                 )?
                /xgi;