The Year My Hair Was A Rainbow

I painted my hair red, hoping that the strength would seep through

My hair is the color of blood and something terrifyingly new.

I wore it like a shield protecting a warrior in the coliseum of life.

I chose it hoping it’ll teach me to devour strife.

but there’s hurt inside of me that I was not ready to name

Red became a color that I could not yet tame.

My hair is the color of dancing flames glistening like wildfire.

I try to find solace in the heat of all that transpired.

I forced my arms open, hoping that a hug will calm the storm

I can be safe again if I can just stay warm.

but orange is not a color that you can fake.

I need to heal through the things that I cannot shake.

My hair was yellow for exactly one day.

I waged chemical warfare on all the parts that felt gray.

I blasted it with sunshine, hope and happiness.

I obliterated the color of my ancestors with peak tackiness.

But as the color ran down the drain, stripping all that I once knew.

It started to feel like this is the day I was born anew.

I chose green because it felt obscene.

loud and proud, as free as when I was fourteen.

Unnatural and unkempt like a mossy witch

This was the shade that made me the ultimate bad bitch.

But colors fade and I needed something true.

My only other option was calmingly blue.

I was happiest when my hair matched the sea.

Serenity and violence all wrapped up in me.

I looked into the mirror and I saw her for the first time.

It’s been a long while but she’s finally ready to climb

out of the dark place she once called home.

I pull myself out and suddenly I’m free to roam.

I dye my hair purple in the most vibrant shade.

Truly believing that this feeling will never fade.

I am royal, a queen in a kingdom of my own creation

For once, I am free beyond damnation.

Small parts of all the colors paint my very soul.

I’m a relic of a kaleidoscope, finally whole.

I painted my hair every shade of the rainbow

trying to hide all the cracks threatening to show.

Someone hurt and stole parts of me away

but I found the pieces and now I’m here to stay.

I start the new year with a blank slate

what color my hair will be is up to fate.