Rainbow Souls & Giving Hearts
a poem for those who feel they must earn love
I don't know which book f*cked me up more
The Rainbow Fish
Or
The Giving Tree....
For those of you who need a refresher in these staples of a childhood library:
The Rainbow Fish is a story about friendship. See, Rainbow Fish is the most beautiful fish in the ocean,
with all these dazzling scales,
And he just minds his business,
Content in his beauty.
Until one day, this little blue fish
(that Rainbow Fish doesn't even know)
Finds all of the audacity
to ask the Rainbow Fish to freely give away the (literal) part of himself he is most proud of and what makes him a unique individual
for absolutely nothing in exchange
Like a sound-minded fish with healthy boundaries he says, "get lost"
But apparently that makes him an a**hole
So, the little blue fish goes spreading rumors
and now no one wants to talk to the Rainbow Fish or be his friend anymore...
Feeling isolated, Rainbow Fish goes to a trusted advisor, the octopus, who tells him the only way he will ever be happy is by giving away all of himself to everyone else so that they will like him....
and he does...
The End....
Now, The Giving Tree was a wholesome story about love
There is a boy who loves a tree,
And the tree loves the boy,
They spend lots of time together
But then the boy starts to change,
He doesn't hang out with the tree very much anymore,
but he still loves the tree.
And the tree still loves the boy,
So, she gives him everything.
Her shade, her fruit, and even her body,
(Even when he flaunts another girl around)
Until she is nothing left but a little stump.
And even then she's only unhappy because she thinks she has nothing left to offer the boy.
But he still finds a way to use her in the end...
The End...
No wonder 90s adults are so f*cked up when these are the examples we're given of love and friendship!
Maybe if the little blue fish just minded his f*cking business instead of acting like an entitled little b*tch, the Rainbow Fish would have found friends who liked him as he was and not for what he could give them.
Maybe if the Tree had set a couple boundaries then the boy would be buried in a plot in her shade and she'd have started a flourishing orchard!
Maybe if I hadn't been taught since the (literal) time I could read that being content with myself was not enough
That the only way to be happy is to have others like you
And the way to get others to like you
Is to give away all of yourself
Even to those who do not deserve it
Who give nothing in return
Because the only way I am worthy of love
Is through how much I am able to provide for those who love me
Maybe....
Yes, maybe if you weren't taught that too
Then maybe when I cancel on lunch with you because today I'm focused on just making it through the day,
You wouldn't mark it down as evidence as to why I'm falling out of love with you.
And maybe when you aren't able to respond to my message within a few hours because of how slammed you are with work, I would not take it as a sign that I am not important to you.
And maybe we wouldn't feel like we are never enough for anyone despite our rainbow souls and giving hearts.
About the Creator
K.C. KENNINGS
Write from the light
Your Life Matters
She/Her
LGBTQ+
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