Acid Rain
I wrote this poem in response to a writing prompt “Eye in the Sky” - the brief was “Write about someone who is desperate for something. They should look up at the sky frequently. Describe how the sky looks at that particular time.”
I wasn’t sure if I should break the stanza after “vermillion”, but I prefer this unbroken version, I think.
Blacker than coal
bluer than copper sulphate
whiter than cotton
grayer than elephants
more orange than orange
pinker than a whore's lipstick
redder than vermillion;
my head hurts
my lungs burst
my knees quiver
my palms sweat
my ears ring
my skin burns
my nose bleeds;
tell me
what rotten colour were you
when the acid
scarred my body
worse than abstract art?
Shape-shifting vessel
of particulate matter,
I piss on your water
I can no longer feel
and that is fine
I mock your thunder
I can no longer hear
and that is fine
but why, tell me why,
must I imagine your colors
I can no longer see.