Girl Sees Red

A Poem

Photo by Dekler Ph on Unsplash

happiness —
that prize we’re all heading towards
when the going is tough
and life seems like a curse —
is not mine to grasp

red becomes the color
of the waking hour,
that first shot of blood
watered across the horizon

sadness —
you think it’s a lark, don’t you,
with welfare minds
and kitchen conversations
because we’re all headed nowhere fast

red becomes the color
of the bow on the present,
that little trinket costing too much
but mattering just the same

knowledge —
you think you know everything
when you’re twenty-two
and barely scraping by
in this world of funds first and last

red becomes the color
of that very first night
when all you wanted was a kiss
to take off some of the edge