"I'm not feeling so good,"
She said.
The teacher bent down.
"Are you feeling sick? What's wrong?"
She asked.
The little girl hugged her knees to her chest,
A frowning soul on the red carpet,
Like a crumpled-up piece of paper.
"I don't know, really.
It's a strange feeling."
She asked her to try and describe what she felt.
"In my mind, it's...grey.
I think the best way to put it
Is that I feel like I'm the colour grey
In a room full of rainbows."
"Are you feeling out-of-place? Shy?"
The teacher enquired.
"I don't remember the word exactly.
Alone, was it?"
A beat.
"I think the word you're looking for is lonely.
Not alone."
The teacher sighed.
"Get up, Jo.
Feeling lonely is normal. It's okay.
Remember, loneliness is still
In the company of people.
But feeling alone? That's scary.
That means you've left the end of your road
So far behind,
We may still have to walk miles
To look for it ahead.
But lonely's acceptable.
We all feel lonely sometimes.
Like a strong gust of wind
Making the wind-chime tinkle.
It blows over. Not to worry."
And Jo smiled, got up,
Held her teacher's hand,
And walked to the school bus
For a field trip.
YOU ARE READING
rainbows can be grey too
PoesiaThis is an anthology of poems and essays I wrote during my low moods and the worst phase of my life emotionally, till date. It's basically my way of self-therapy, and letting out all those repressed feelings and thoughts I've never been able to expr...
