Colors

I am 5

I stack the blocks in rainbow order

Someone knocks them down, and my mother laughs

At how I rebuild, again, and again,

trusting in the same rhythm of color

I am 16

And the teacher mocks the use of rainbows

“Colorful” is shorthand for wrong

I begin to wear grey hoodies

And hope one day,

I will be enough, rather than too much.

I am 22

I have learned the word “bisexual”

A beautiful man sees the gold in my eyes

I realize, I am afraid to be seen

But I can’t help seeing

rainbows in the sky

I am 27

I am out to my friends

I get my first color tattoo

And I can call the beautiful man my husband

We have bound our hands

in ribbons of many colors

I am 31

The sky is grey again

But I put on a bright green mask

And hold his hand in mine

And today

It is enough.