White Walls

Layer upon layer of white.

Four ivory walls enclose

icy canopy above

snowy floor below.

Harsh florescent flickers

illuminating leaves of white

paper pages, paper faces.

Shining and bright and white and light

and seemingly endless trite talk

is drowned in my technicolor daydreams.

Bright bursts of watercolor and neon

drip from the pallet of my mind.

With thoughts I splatter the walls

creating textures and facets

for the light to dance on.

I paint these prison walls with my hopes;

with fat pink and red winged hearts

glistening with fresh feelings

that soar across a cerulean sky.

Lush flora emerges

blossoming in the deepest greens and purples

spreading across my imagination.

I explore the world I created

without ever leaving my seat.

No longer confined within white walls

I am free.

I Tried to Hide From You in the Bottom of a Bottle

I tried to hide from you

in a dark room filled with smoke.

I tried to hide from you

behind the things I put into my body

to animate it every morning

to make it sleep at night.

I tried to think of the last place

you would look for me.

I tried to hide from you in the bottom of a bottle

but that, that is where you found me.

The bottom of that bottle looked a lot like

a dimly-lit room

with a dirty grey carpet

where I lay

like a little boat lost at sea.

When you came in

you lit the room like a sunrise.

I tried to hide my filthy, tear-streaked face

behind hands that still dripped

with my own crimson blood.

I was ashamed

because the once-white dress you gave me

was in tatters from my running.

You looked at me without a hint of disdain.

Your eyes were kind, unassuming

and you reached for me.

But I drew back from your touch.

 “Can’t you see what I’ve done,

what I’ve become?

I screwed up, I spit in your face.

I turned my back on you.

I did everything I swore I’d never do.”

You said, “I love you.”

You picked me up

and carried me out of the mess I made,

your clean white clothes taking on the stains of my shame.

You washed my face, my feet

You called me Princess, Beloved.

You called me Beautiful.