Our Colors~

~for Aven's contest 'Injustice'~

I did not know what color was

until our hands raced in a rainbow curve

creating blues, greens, reds, yellows

where our fingertips touched

elation emerged on paper

blended with blush laughter

tinting our lips apple red 

 

I didn’t know what color was

until you taught me how to listen

to the hues inside of music

pumping brilliant arrays

around our bodies

caught

in double dutch rhymes

 

I didn’t know what color was

until you traced my path back home

watching lavender smears erupt

at the end of the man’s fist

against the dyes of innocence

his ignorance in dark smears

under his eyes

demanding I act my color

demanding

I stick with my color

and I said

but there are not many

black and blue and purple girls in the world

 

I didn’t know what color was

until

you cleaned the blood from my mouth

gave your tears to mine

collecting in the bowl of our joined palms;

you said

we are all blood and we are all water

and then

I knew what color was

and ours was the color of the rainbow

on the mural

at McKinley Elementary

 

 

copyright:2010vssmd/amusemusepress

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

 

 

Author's Note

Aven's Contest here~http://www.writerscafe.org/contests/Injustice/12276/

Reviews

[Bard Constantine]

Judging or hating because of a mundane thing as skin color has to be perhaps the greatest ignorance/arrogance of humanity. Love the way you bring this home with your autobiographical tale of pain and enlightenment... children are far wiser than their wards at times...

[MiidniightSoul]

Wow! I loved this poem so much that I read it a couple of times in a row. Very beautifully written. Such a unique and creative poem. The imagery is so vivid, incredible. Your poem left me breathless.

[luciddreamer]

If only we could all learn, we all hurt, we all bleed, we all cry, we all laugh, we all make choices that either help or harm others....except in our warped eyes it really has not a damn thing to do with color...but, alas, at times, I too tend to forget from the programming that was instilled way before this day....
Peace
Robin

[Tony]

Yeees, I dig that! I'm loving this write-- that's the ticket right there.
Clear, fluid-- literally colorful and the message is esquisite.
Truly invigorating write.

[KAREN]

I LIKE THIS POEM AND IT'S NEAT THE WAY YOU USED THE COLORS TO EXPRESS THE POEM! YOU FEELINGS FLOWED ONTO PAPER AS A WATERFALL FLOWS DOWN A MOUNTAIN!

[KATHY SUE SILLS]

COLORFUL POEM! This was so romantic as I read each line binding the couple together! Great write!

[kuru]

this is one of those inspirational pieces just pulls you in the beginning line to the end...great write!...just love how you begin each stanza the repetition is so powerful!

Another great write. Great moral stance. This should be on a wall somewhere to remind us, that we are all not too different. Excellently penned and executed. Good luck on the contest.

[Mauricio Montoya]

This is a very powerful piece in the massage it conveys I like how you brought the colors together as a symbol of unity which should stand for all.
Excellent write.

[Marie Harrison]

Lovely poems. I love the imagery, the story and the emotions that it evokes in the reader. Wonderful poem.