Paint the Wall

You're staring at the wall,

Wondering who thought it was a good idea to paint it white,

Because you can see every smudge and mark on it,

Every miniscule flaw and imperfection.

So you go to the nearby hardware store,

And you pick out a light blue,

Because you always liked the color blue,

It reminded you of the freedom of the sky.

You go back to the room with the white wall,

And you set down your buckets of paint,

Getting out your paintbrushes and rollers and wooden sticks,

And you start to paint the wall blue.

Soon, the walls hold no trace of white,

And for a moment you admire your work,

Taking in the newness of the wall,

But then you realize you can see the smudges on blue too.

So you pack up the new paint you bought,

And you stuff it in the closet to use later,

Making your way to the hardware store again,

This time to pick out a darker color to hide the flaws.

You choose a dark purple this time,

And you go back to the wall that used to be white,

Painting every inch of it a dark aubergine color,

Until there's no trace of the previous layers of paint.

When you're done this time,

You stare at the slowly drying paint,

And you realize that there are no marks or blemishes left,

But there is still something wrong with the wall.

Back to the store you go,

And the cashier asks you if you have another job,

Because you lied and told her you were a painter,

So you have no choice but to lie and nod again.

The paint on the wall is still wet,

But you ignore that and start to cover the purple with beige,

Because that’s the color of respectable people’s homes,

Even though you hate the color.

And you're done again, the paint has smeared,

An ugly mix of purple and beige,

Not quite one or the other,

But a hybrid of both that makes you want to cry.

You wait, this time, for it to dry,

And then you scrape the paint off the wall,

Flakes land in your hair and eyes,

The colors beneath peeling away and falling to the floor.

Until there is nothing but the wall itself,

Bare and still somehow wrong,

So you go to the store again,

And you begin to paint the wall.