Tens of them, hundreds -
They all look the same.
Pessimism reigns -
All is brown, black, white, grey.
Colorless beings, all of them -
Standing in rows, shunning all color
For they are envious of that which they will never possess.
A few of us, not many -
The colorful ones.
Standing together, all unique -
In pink and blue, red and green, yellow and violet,
A rainbow of beautiful strangeness.
We belong to life, to love, to each other -
And they shun us, the colorful few,
Disappearing within the monotony
Of brown, black, white, grey.
They tell us we are undeserving,
That we must sacrifice our color
And fit within their dullness.
Cool green,
Rich mahogany,
Deep purple,
Warm magenta -
We are uncanny, odd, lost among the colorless ones.
But perhaps we can be lost together.
Please give a detailed explanation about the meaning and main idea of this poem.
This poem was written to draw attention to ideas of normality and how difficult it is to be different in a world that expects us to be like everyone else. It uses colors as a metaphor for stereotypes and expectations, drab colors representing people who uphold those expectations and bright colors for those who resist.
Please explain your writing and thought process regarding this poem.
I have a condition known as synesthesia, which makes me associate colors with ideas. To me, this was a simple act of writing what I genuinely think of, as I tend to associate drab colors with those I am not fond of and bright colors for myself and my allies.
Why did you choose to write this poem?
I chose to write this poem because I needed to release my emotions after a bad day of being picked on.
Do you have any tips or anything to share with the youth writers who may be reading this? (optional)
My advice to any aspiring writer is to simply write from your heart, about the issues and casual subjects that matter to you. In fact, I'm not certain that I am qualified to advise you - not only are you more than likely my own age or older, but if you did what I said you should then it wouldn't be authentically your poetry. Just write what feels right!