The Revelator

Fresh coat of paint,
need one for my walls
“Will an off white do?”
No it’s not as clean
“A love­ly crème perhaps?”
No, my heart was nev­er for crème,
it’s a lousy excuse for white
“Shall it be a love­ly white then?”
No, white’s no longer appropriate
“a sil­ver white then?”
No, I was nev­er that holy,
maybe I will try black…
“What! Black walls for your house?”
No Sir, black walls for my heart;
maybe the black paint
will obliterate
those dirty fin­ger­prints, handprints
of all the loves that went sour.

Lil­lian A. Aujo is cur­rent­ly fin­ish­ing her law degree at Ugan­da Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty Mukono. She is a mem­ber of FEMRITE, and The Lantern Meet of Poets–a group of young poets who meet every two weeks to share and cri­tique poetry.