Plastic Rainbow

 

Arching rainbows,

pink ponies,

sparkling tiaras,

and silver-white unicorns.

To a child, it’s a heaven beyond

any imagination.

A heaven where towering adults coo

false compliments and bestow

sticky, sugary sweets.

A heaven all wrapped up in its

own superficial fairy tale.

Glittering golden Styrofoam

wands breaking in two.

Plastic rainbows plastered over the

lace curtains and white-washed

walls in a little girl’s room.

 

Plastic rainbows, so comforting

in their promising hope and

cheerful brightness.

Rainbows that lead to a pot of

gold that will never be found.

Deceiving and disappointing

and great desolation.

Things change and we no longer believe.

 

In that faded plastic rainbow

hanging halfheartedly from the

bedroom wall.

Hope has faded.

We have grown up.

Author's Note

A poem about the transformation to adulthood and the profound realization that all our dreams aren't what we thought they were. When I originally wrote this and reread it, I didn't much care for it. Now that I go back and read it, I realize it was everything I wanted it to be.

Reviews

[Jack E Khthon]

telling...