There are angels who bathe in colors

Painting hues of sadness and drops of courage

Upon a blank canvas waiting to be explored

Marked by the handprints of babies learning to crawl

Marked with the blood of those learning to forget

Marked by those who were happy and those who were not

And waiting to be found by someone who can see it all

 

Such a girl grew with her hands reaching for scarlet skies

Believing the tales her mother told her, about superpowers

She had her own power, one to see colors manifest

Oceans when her mother played the jazzy radio station

Honeycrisp apples in the back of her throat

When the word “luminescence” slipped past her lips

She heard and saw color and tasted words when no one else did

 

When she was six, the colors twisted for the first time

She met a boy who grasped for the universe

Stars of blue twinkled in the depths of his curious eyes

He didn’t last too long, guilt and greed tugged him down

He left with a note but no goodbye

Yet, despite his absence, the girl somehow survived

Seeing hues of the blue starlight when she thought of him

 

When she grew older, she had a fear of the dark

Of shifting chasms and merciless storms

A tired mother and father tried to keep her happy

But they only drew their strength from her

And so she found lilac purple in every stormy cloud

Coiling around every curvature of her frame

Something she resented became something wondrous

 

As the nights grew longer, sleep stopped coming

She lied wide away, glaring at stars

Questioning how the world could peer at her so calmly

When it had stolen her courage and replaced it with cowardice

In the midst of hostile black nights filled with anger

She found the orange of sunrises and sunsets

A comfort that steadied her pulse that kept her sane

 

Others drew out smiles etched on her face for hours

Her ashen complexion learned to radiate warmth

They were more than just unbound friendships

The color enveloping them meant family

Hands and arms linked together under watchful gazes

Nothing and no one could tear them apart

The laughter in the air was as pink as her cheeks

 

Color now does not just come to her with words

The melodies entice her in an unfamiliar trance

She tries to recreate the effect in her mind

A low hum, like the thrum of rain, slithers off her tongue

She is paralyzed by the smooth rhythm she creates

Every sound, every pulse in her chest, plants a melody

A symphony of colors explodes behind closed eyes

 

As she walks every lonely step, music murmuring in her ears,

Shades of all different kinds dance around her

Keeping her company while she takes her own path

Remaining there as she navigates the world

No footsteps nip at her heels in the halls

No friends wear sheepish smiles and flushed cheeks

No blue eyed boy maps the constellations in her freckles

 

And yet she is content with just colors by her side

For once, she knows that she can truly be okay