POEM STARTER
Submitted by snoop
Write a poem about something getting washed away, either literally or metaphorically.
Splotches on My Skin
I used to wear all the colors of
Hatred and love
Only in private,
Safeguarding them from
The tainted grasp
Of other hearts.
They told me
My feelings made me fragile,
And so
I bleached the colors away
The best I could.
But I failed in cleansing myself
Of their impossible burden
And faint remnants of their existence
Left splotches on my skin,
Showcasing that
Ugly frailty
To whoever looked in my direction.
I washed
Over and over
And over and over
Until my hands were raw,
And my skin,
Cracked and crimson,
Bled from the friction.
Nothing I did could erase
The pigments I bore unwillingly.
I vowed to rid my body
Of the hues others deemed as
Undesirable.
I dyed myself with
Trendy colors,
Those that I thought
Would flush away
The tremendous weight of
Love and hate.
But I looked in the mirror
And I couldn’t recognize
The shell that it reflected.
I checked in every plate and every spoon,
Every car door and every shop window.
I checked in broken mirror
After broken mirror,
For any signs of life,
For any part of me,
But there were none.
In dyeing,
I died,
And only the vague idea
Of who I once was
Remained,
A stain that faded,
But never quite washed away.