Colouring outside the lines

Colouring outside the lines

For Heather Davis

Anne bent over colour as if over prayer,
each magic crayon a small lighthouse in her hand.
The tumour took roads, but not to the air
where she could choose a bird in the sky, on a shore, along a strand.
She filled each shape with stubborn, tender light,
therapy blooming quietly, soothing her brain,
discovering a language for things that had no right
to ask her for a name, only to ask again.
When colour slipped beyond the printed line,
Anne knew how to keep it otherwise confined:
she made another safe border, fine, so very fine,
then one more rim of courage, grace by grace.
There’s more than a poem in that brave design:
perhaps a PhD in colouring outside the lines.

“Colouring outside the lines” is used as a metaphor for someone who doesn’t feel confined by expectations, rules, or conventional ways of thinking. When applied to a special person, it might suggest that they are creative, bold, and unafraid to express themselves authentically, even if that means standing apart from others. It can also imply a kind of emotional or personal freedom, someone who brings originality, spontaneity, and warmth into life, making the world feel less rigid and more vivid. In this sense, the phrase becomes a compliment, highlighting a person whose uniqueness is not a flaw but a gift.

“As for ‘colouring outside the lines,’ I like how Anne did it,” says Heather, our home volunteer, who accompanied Anne on a creative journey, crocheting while Anne coloured. “Anne knew how to do it safely, by just creating another border and then another and then another.”

“There’s more than a poem in there,” claims Heather. “There’s probably a PhD!”