Why I Paint Rainbows

I live in a world

Where everything is grey

Dreary

Like iron clouds

Whose only purpose

Is to rain down

Broken sheets of misery upon me

But I did not create those clouds

That rain is not mine

I do not claim it

Someone else placed it there

In my perception

Someone else built this house

With dusty floors

And peeling wallpaper

So I paint rainbows

Because I refuse

To live in this dismal house

Built with the gnarled hands

Of spite and jealousy

And rotting cruelty

I paint rainbows over

That cracked and dirty siding

That age-old crumbling brick

The generations of hurt

And inherited abuse

Passed down

From my mother's kin

I refuse to give

This ugly house to my children

I will not teach them hate

They will not inherit pain

Instead I will teach them

To paint rainbows

And stars

And blooming flowers

I will show them love

My grandchildren will live in a house

Of vibrance and colour

Bursting with music and laughter

They won't notice

Those tiny cracks

Beneath the paint

Or the foundation I repaired

With love and understanding

Because they will grow up in a world

Where they've never seen

Even the tiniest hint of grey