Poem and artwork By Mabel Encinas-Sanchez
This poem explores the colours of horror and hope.
What colour is the brain
of the general that shouts ‘fire!’?
Why don’t bombs
simply implode?
What happens to rubble
that turns all colours into grey?
When someone’s heart is afraid of red,
are they running away from horror?
With so much grey and red,
why doesn’t history wear black?
But then, how green is a greenhorn
that has not grown a horn?
How much experience
kills the green in people?
And how many greys
kill all the greens?
How many questions
does a child in poverty have?
And what is the colour
of a blanket that hugs a refugee?
How come that in the midst of horror,
hope can feel like wearing flowers?