Things They Forgot to Mention
I was told many things when I was young.
The sky is blue.
The grass is green.
The clouds are white.
The sun is yellow.
The dog barks.
The cat mews.
You are pretty.
You are smart.
You are unique…
Yet so much they forgot to mention.
The sky is sometimes grey.
The grass is sometimes uglier on the other side.
The clouds are not always friendly.
The sun is often every color and more.
The dog often growls.
The cat often scratches.
You must always believe you are pretty.
You are not always the smartest in the room.
Your differences may be used against you…
These were small things and large things.
Little truths for little minds.
Big truths to be learned without the time.
These are the things they forgot to mention.
Far too often are our thoughts constricted.
Useless facts and good intentions.
I struggle to find balance.
The half-truths and courtesies they taught me when I was young.
They refuse to let me see the darkness in the light.
I sometimes feel forever doomed to this blissful blindness.
And then the tunnel clears
and I can see once more,
Sepia tones and neon signs and Claude Monet,
Drawing pencils and paper dragons and chalky hands.
You’ll find no Color-by-Number here,
No Insert Name Here,
Not in this Mad-Lib mind.
For this is my mind, and I shall color it as I please.
I shall fill the spaces in my memory with the things they forgot,
And I shall be the one who remembers.