Do not struggle
To paint me in red
My mind might be a palette
With darker shades of colors I do not recognize.
Do not ever
Confuse me with the sun
I might be the sun
Slipping timidly into the sea that roars during nights.
My soul is not its metaphor and
My eyes aren’t warm and orange.
So do not try
To paint me sublime like a sunset.
But if you do,
Make sure
The water is a kind blue
The shore is a bare brown and
The sky is a dull shade of grey.
Make sure the happy flock leaves
Before its too dark to count my colors that stain the sea.
And bethink when you sign the canvas with your name,
I’ll never rise the same.
-Shreya
DECEMBER 8, 2018
Nothingness and me. 