I carry a paintbrush every day
And in my pocket it will stay
For when I don't want people to see
The colors come and cover me

Today I'm sad, and lonely too
But with one stroke, I look bright blue
Or maybe pink, I'll look so bold
Or reddish brown to hide the cold

A gray today, to match the skies
Bright purple now, to shield my cries
Deep red or green-that part I'll play
A yellow then, to hide away

Teal and amber, army green
An orange like they've never seen
Crimson then, now fuchsia too
I'll add them to my color stew

My colors hide me without fail
They layer on, and don't grow stale
The paintbrush works, it doesn't mind
And parts of me they'll never find

But once, I went to the mirror, there
To check my face, to fix my hair
But when I looked at the tableau
There stood someone I didn't know

Who was this girl, that stared right back
Whose colors blended into black
They crowded her, a heavy weight
I wiped it off- but far too late

And though it's strange, I shook because
I'd forgotten what color I really was
It hit me then- I felt so faint
I'd lost myself in all that paint

I dashed my paintbrush to the ground
And stared at it without a sound
I should've known the price to pay
I was nothing but an art display

"You stupid thing!" I screamed inside
"You make me false, you make me hide!"
But though the paintbrush was dead and gray
The colors drenched me anyway

A single tear slid down my face
But as I wiped it out of place,
Upon my hand came off some black
The tear had left a pale skin track

I stared at it, that bit of me
Exposed at last for me to see
Not purple, orange, red, or blue
But here I was- this tear was true

And with each tear, the more I'll know
Perhaps I'll heal- perhaps I'll grow
And will I break from the color cell?
I can't be sure- but time will tell.