I Will Paint The Sea

You giddily showed me how to paint the sky
With your stained hands and color palettes
You showed me royal, sapphire and denim for my blue
Rubies, corals and rust for my red.
And where I could only see an end
You showed me sunsets.

I learned well how to mix and match,
Sighs and shadow,
Scars and meadows,
The salt with the nectarines.
I eagerly showed you this new hued world
And you smiled,
Enraptured.
"Beautiful." you said.
"It looks like hers."

I saw another sunset.

So from your sky I took down my yellow stars,
the pale of the moon,
the dark of my night,
gathered them on the ground
and with almost no sound
I threw matches at the careful mound.

Merciless
I watched as my blues and reds blurred
Until there was only gray.
Here I taught myself
Dim and ash,
Storm and stone.
If embers escaped I put them out with my rain.
Alone.

Unmoved,
I watched and learned more.
Gray is now dove
Gray became steel.
Gray is now platinum.

And as you color her heavens and smile.
I realize I don't have to paint the sky.