Poems by Rachel G. and Koh Ze-Wen
Rainbow Colours
Rachel G.
Red is –
the flush of your cheeks
the autumn leaf in your hair
the smudge of lipstick on your lips
Orange is –
the colour of the sunset against your skin
the fruit you love so
the fence of your father’s house
Yellow is –
the shade of your favourite sweater
the sunray warming your skin
the canary you watch take flight into the skies
Green is –
the colour your eyes used to be
before white it turned
Blue is –
the sky of
the day we last spent together
the colour of your hands
when all is said and done
and you’ve gone cold
Indigo is –
the bruise on your cheek
the smeared mascara
on your tear-stained face
Violet is –
the mark on your neck
tattooed fingerprints
monochrome skins
Koh Ze-Wen
there is no teenage emotion
that is quite the shade, or
temperament, of
shame.
anger, and its cuts – trendy;
grief and its roots, in your lungs –
easy to romanticise, that kind of
suffering.
but shame
is ugly, sits
in your skin, acid
in your stomach, sizzling.
for a teenager, no label
is worse than
try-hard.
cringeworthy.
no scald quite like
caring when nobody else does.
we wear apathy like armour.
monochrome skins, shifting
to conceal
what is embarrassing.
(our hearts)