Purple.
The colour
of bruised knees
(pain)
and lips begging
for oxygen
(breathlessness).
A hue
caught somewhere
between blue and red
(two extremes).
Blue for misery,
brokenness
(frigid, the tundra),
blue like the ocean
(drowning, an ode
to Ophelia).
Red for anger,
passion
(burning, the inferno),
red like flame
(gasoline for blood,
playing hide and seek
with embers).
Ultraviolet radiance
(blinding, turn your eyes away
the Purple).
Vibrant
(well, not so vibrant)
yet dark
(sometimes, too dark).
Soft
(just as the lilac
blossom is)
but harsh
(the bee that devours
the blossom's nectar).
China Doll complexion
(rosy cheeks,
skin the colour of moon dust)
paralleled against whirling eyes,
surging pools of burst blood vessels
and flared veins
(dear god, the Madness!)
Poetry personified--
counting syllables
instead of counting sheep
(a spoonful of codeine
to wash down the tears).
Words engraved into flesh
(wearing sadness like it's
crushed velvet--lovely);
these ink-stained wrists
(or is that blood?)
Empty band-aid boxes
(the scars still ache
whenever it rains)
and empty liquor bottles
(enamel eroding,
mouth swimming in froth).
Fearful of the night,
for the night will
surely bring the mourning
(A seer-- forever dreading
"tomorrow").
Self-medicating with
Antihistamines and Tequilla
(Witch Doctor,
burned at the stake
in another life).
Dreaming in pastels
(when the insomnia
permits it)
but existing in a
grey-scale reality
(inhaling this pain
like it's cigarette smoke).
"A penny for your thoughts?"
(Haven't you forgotten?
They've stopped making pennies
because this world no longer
has any use for them).
A reflection in the mirror
(glass shatters,
pupils collapse in on themselves).
̶B̶e̶a̶u̶t̶i̶f̶u̶l̶
(Please,
take away this body!)
"I love you..."
(unrequited,
not pretty enough
to be touched).
A serenade for him(s)
(rejected letters,
"maybe we should
just be friends").
Eternal
p
l
u
m
m
e
t
t
(wind knocked from lungs,
soul plucked from body).
Lips shatter as
the kiss the cement
(step on a crack
break your mother's
back).
Mother,
who named her child
jade
for the gemstone
nephrite
( ̶p̶r̶e̶c̶i̶o̶u̶s̶),
for the green,
Mother Nature's
chromatic blush
(wilting dandelions,
forsaken wishes).
Green.
(green?)
It's a colour that
never quite suited
a girl like me--
a girl with a purple soul.