Inkpaw

Words 
Adorned by graphite expectations 
Fingers gripping tightly 
To the chipping yellow nub
To the hopes and dreams
He’s afraid will dry up
Colors
Surge through his head

The cracks in the ceiling
Akin to the fractures
That sprawl spider like
Across your painted plaster mind
Pushed to breaking
Shattering, flaking
Falling apart and spilling
Starry secrets all over the shoe trodden carpet

Whether you come from the throws of anxiety
Of day to day stress and high stakes highways
Or the frustration of realization of our own human limitations
Whether your skin is purple blue green yellow or mahogany

Somewhere I lost the words
along the tissue paper flower path
that smells of floor cleaner 
like a hospital 
all hallways and anxiety 
every turn a new reason to want to run away 
from what you might find

I don't know who I am
the little kid in the purple dress
with the long hair
has changed and, slightly faded
he's sad today
he knows
something isn't right in his world
but he can't pin down what