Taking off The Rose Colored Glasses

Rose colored lenses run in my family,

So red flags always looked normal.

They were lost to me when I was drowning

in a tumultuous sea

that pulled me down with waves of lies

& currents of violence

Then I began to see in other shades.

The first was black:

The dark lonely hopelessness,

the fear, the fleeing.

The second was purple:

The contusions left deeper than skin,

The admittance, the grim acceptance

swallowing of pride like corked wine

Then there was Blue:

The solitude, the questioning,

the insignificance.

And then Red:

not the pretty frills of soft rose petals,

but dragon fire

Passion

grit

seething hot & fast,

seeking truth,

demanding justice,

determined,

I thought that red would be the last,

but she one day mellowed into karmic orange,

which became a dear friend

She was warm, cozy, candle light,

She made all the shadows dance.

She was strong as neat bourbon

igniting the yellow flame of hope

which flooded the depths of me with her light

greeting me like a long lost lover

crying out to me in the mirror

"where have you been? We've been waiting for you!"

And then green cried out from some crack

that had formed

in the fortress of my heart

"I've been here all along, you just have to let me out!"

And the last of the gray walls around my heart crumbled

Letting that sparkling Emerald green,

The color of home, the color of me,

finally grow into being