what about angels
tw: mentions of abuse
"She's just clumsy," Mama says
she's very clumsy
falling down stairs
tripping in the garden
dropping the pot on her foot
.
"Be proud of your scars," they say
you were born a blank canvas
and these are all little things
that make you yourself
a work of art
.
but the stroke of a paintbrush
isn't akin to the bruises she gets
for being herself
for free speech
for her own opinion
.
she is loud and brash and crude
(shut up.)
red is the colour of anger and hatred
and merlin, does she hate
so much that her mama says she's clumsy
.
the purple fades to yellow
and the crackling fire in the common room
isn't as terrifying
and she thinks
this is cleansing
.
when the old art has been washed away
(the purple and red, a cacophony of colours)
she can make a new canvas
made of her mistakes
and her memories
.
there's a new one, now
a nick on her elbow
from when they were running too fast
through the corridors
laughing too hard to stop.