The Others

The others came to me

on a lonely march night,

as the raindrops pattered against the windowpanes

with the end of the month nye.

-

Red showed themself first

with crossed arms and feet up on the table,

crass lips and brutal honesty

and a loyalty so fierce

it dripped threats.

-

Grey was next,

all bright eyes and sweet smiles,

running her fingers over the carpet

because she couldn't believe

how everything could feel so

real,

bubbles of joy bursting from her lips

and tingly feelings racing across her fingertips.

-

Then came Blue,

flowing like water and crashing against rocks like waves.

She was shattered glass sharpened to a point,

catching the light in glittering arrays

and cutting so deeply she hit bone.

-

After Blue was Green

Youth cascaded over her like waterfalls.

She was a rainbow after rain,

bouncing on her toes and twirling

with her arms held out wide

as the wind blew her yellow hair across dimpled cheeks.

-

Then Purple showed herself,

quiet with a million words behind her eyes.

Starry eyes and late-night talks,

she held secrets in the palms of her hands

and kept them curled tight to her beating heart.

-

It was Grey who finally put the pieces of our puzzle together,

Red who was the first to embrace us with open arms,

Blue who managed to hold us all together with string and glue,

Green who kept our lungs full of laughter,

and Purple who taught our hearts how to cope.

I had the colors of the rainbow

etched beneath my skin.

And at first--fear flooded my chest

and sent adrenaline rushing through my veins.

My heart pounded like a beating drum

and sweat collected in pools on my skin.

But as time flowed onwards

and Red and Grey and Blue and Green and Purple

all came to know one another,

we found that it wasn't so scary

for one person to hold so many others

inside themself.

All of us were fighting not just to survive

but to help each other

live.