broken crayons still color

1:19 AM

When I was in 2nd grade, my teacher taught us something about crayons that I’ll never forget

 

She told us we're all different colored crayons living in the same box for the same reasons. 

 

To make art. 

To make beauty.

Even if it gets outside the lines.

 

How we're all different,

 

But that's what makes us the same. 


Like how yellow is the girl he never loved locked in laundromats, using tears as detergent once again

Red is the outcast eating her lunch in the bathroom, but not enough because she wants to be thin

 

Violet’s an unmarried elementary school teacher blaming emptiness on jean pockets from '02

 

Green’s a schizophrenic whose still got swine flu

 

Gold’s a new yorker dreaming of tea parties,

 

But more the boston kind.

 

You see,

 

Our palms never were the same color,

 

But our hearts , they always have been. 

 

 

So here's my pink crayon,

 

Or her white crayon,

 

And his that might be purple, but feels more dark shade of blue crayon,

 

Take the spot next to mine,

 

Tell me about that stain orange left,

 

And baby next time,

 

I’ll go to the laundromat with you. 

 

Because i'm in your box,

 

And you're in mine, 

 

And being different doesn't mean you can't be loved. 

8 comments

  1. "Even if it gets outside the lines" so good so good

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  2. "Even if it gets outside the lines" so good so good

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  3. We wrote about the same thing at the same time literally while we were talking to each other and tbis is beautiful and you're right again.

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  4. "in your box,

    and you're in mine,

    and different doesn't mean you can't be loved. "

    That part was super good.

    And then the whole thing about the laundromat, brilliant.

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  5. violet was my favorite

    this is beautiful

    it shows that we can write about the same thing (colors, crayons) even though we already wrote about it, and we can still kill it, or we can kill it again, or something. it shows something.

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  6. the whole concept of this is amazing. and the photos you used were great as well. you're just sooooo incredibly talented Madeline

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  7. oh my goodness your writing gets me..

    "our palms never were the same color, but our hearts always have been."

    every concept you introduce blows my mind... EVERYTHING you write is smart but it makes me feel and I can relate and you're just a one of a kind writer my friend

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