Colouring Between the Lines
For Anne
A Free Verse Reflection
Anne brings the world into focus;
her careful hands select each crayon like a memory,
the coral blush of a peony vase, the iridescent red of a ruby-throated hummingbird,
the soft blue of the scarf a friend knit for winter’s bite.
She picks her subjects, meticulously, one by one:
a chipped teacup, a fragile butterfly, a worn-out toque,
pausing, as if listening for their stories,
and chooses hues with the precision of hope,
her concentration entire, unwavering,
never once straying beyond the border of the image,
keeping her edges intact.
In the quiet hush of these mornings,
her world blooms in impossible colour,
reds bolder than fate, greens deeper than regret.
While the diagnosis hangs above her,
Anne colours on, not to escape,
but to mark the moment, to honour what remains.
Perhaps colouring is her act of defiance,
a gentle rebellion against the inevitable,
or maybe it’s her way of touching permanence,
each stroke a testament to living fully inside the lines,
in spite of what lies beyond.
https://robertmcbrydeauthor.com/
Here is a prose discussion of therapeutic colouring for people living with brain tumours:
https://robertmcbrydeauthor.com/colouring-her-world/
