Crayola Colors | Teen Ink

Crayola Colors

July 2, 2012
By crayola_green BRONZE, Somewhere Near A Corn Field, Other
crayola_green BRONZE, Somewhere Near A Corn Field, Other
1 article 0 photos 15 comments

Favorite Quote:
Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is... his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
-Romans 12:2 (NIV)


Every July I'd come to visit you,
each step I took bringing me closer to the ocean.
It was you,
my rescuer, my hero,
whisking me away from my troubles
if only for a month.
It was a time when the fireflies danced
and the teachers lay dormant,
when the days were endless
and the nights were starry,
when the sea stretched so wide I thought I'd fall over,
when we were so inseparable people couldn't tell us apart
even as a boy and a girl.
It was a time when you were still my bestest friend.
I remember...

When we were four
sitting on the porch
and our legs swinging over the edge
so they didn't touch the ground
and you leaned over to kiss my cheek
saying Now we were gonna be married
forever,
just so I know,
But then your mom came out with the lemonade
and got all mushy
so I punched you in the arm.

When we were seven
and it was the hottest day of our lives
and we were sweating away
and giggling like maniacs
your blue eyes shining with excitement
because no one else was out
and we lined up Crayola crayons all along the sidewalk
and a magnifying glass melted them into
the most beautiful colors
and the days merged together
like Crayola colors
melting on a hot sidewalk...

When we were nine
and you followed your big brother around
and I followed you,
and we called your mom Deidre, because
that was what Bobby,
who was in high school and knew everything,
called her
at least until Deidre decided
she was tired of living...
You didn't come out of her room for a week
until I told you,
Come run with me,
so you did.
We ran like there was no tomorrow,
two Crayola colors running side by side...

When we were eleven
and it rained all July
and you asked me who was my best friend
and I said, You, why?
You told me I was too
and you made me promise to
forever
remember you, so I did
as you took a needle to my finger
and then to yours
and they touched
and we became united in friendship for eternity.
Later, I could feel my finger beat-beating
and you becoming a part of me
fusing like Crayola colors
bleeding into each other...

When we were fourteen
and we were at the beach
building the biggest sand castle in the history of histories
and I stared at you
because for a moment
you looked different
with your tan skin sending off heat
and your strong tan arms crafting your monument
and you looked up at me
and asked why I stopped working
but I didn't respond
because my mind was racing with crazy thoughts
and feelings I'd never known for you
and I wished you had kissed me then
instead of ten years before...

When we were fifteen
walking on the trail alone
and you pulled out a smoke to light it
and I smacked it away,
but you just pulled out a new one
and when you finished, another one
right after the other
and all summer long
it didn't stop
so I finally gave up trying
because you never ran out, it was like you had
a bottomless box of Crayola sticks,
all gray and yellow and black...

When we were sixteen
and your face wasn't yours
your words weren't you
and your eyes were too big for your sunken face
and one day I found you smoking,
something different,
and for a second you looked like a kid
who got caught for coloring on the walls.
But then you looked down
and didn't say a thing
and right then I saw the spitting image of your mother
Deidre
like you didn't care anymore...

When we were seventeen
and you and your dad and Bobby
up and left in your rackety van
and migrated to the Plains
no beach
no sea
no more Julys with you.
What happened to blood siblings?
What happened to forever?

When I was twenty-one,
you came back to the sea
in a big wooden casket.
Your blood stopped in you
but was still beat-beating in me.
And just before they
lowered you into the ground,
your face was peaceful,
careless,
clueless,
a face that had never been yours
when you were alive–
The blue-eyed genius
putting crayons to death by magnifying glass
The dedicated worker
creating your fortress with tan and loving arms
The washed-out addict
as I last saw you alive
even though you were already dead inside.

You left me
with your pale gray face
purple lips
hollow eyes
not staying to find out what happens
when you leave those Crayola crayons
too long out in the sun,
that the wax runs out
until there's no more left
no more tears to cry
so that there's just the paper shell...


The author's comments:
I wrote this in a rush because I had promised to bring something new for a monthly writer's workshop. My inspiration came from an art project, where we used hair dryers to melt Crayola crayons onto cardboard. I wondered if it could be used on a sidewalk like chalk... After editing and feedback, this was the result.

This isn't meant to be a PSA or something, but it's about wasting life only to miss what's right in front of you.

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This article has 12 comments.


on Jun. 30 2013 at 4:50 am
thatunknownthing DIAMOND, Dubai, Other
67 articles 0 photos 208 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift; that's why they call it the present"

and I forgot to mention, this story of a poem petrified me for five whole seconds after I read it. 5/5!

on Jun. 30 2013 at 4:45 am
thatunknownthing DIAMOND, Dubai, Other
67 articles 0 photos 208 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift; that's why they call it the present"

You write incredible poetry, great figures of speech and a very appreciable writing style. Go on! Could you offer your critique on some of my poems?

on Jun. 27 2013 at 2:50 pm
Court901 BRONZE, Magnolia, Texas
4 articles 0 photos 57 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Imagniation is not a talent of some people, but it is the health of every person" -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wow. All I really know to say is wow and you've been added to my 'favorites list'. As I read each line, I kept reading faster just so I could get to the next line. That was soo beautiful, so please keep writing. I can't wait 'til you add more poems.

on Jun. 13 2013 at 4:38 pm
Carpe-Caffeam GOLD, No Where, Florida
10 articles 0 photos 444 comments

Favorite Quote:
“If it weren’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever.” –David Letterman

I couldn’t click on your name in the Forums to get to this piece, so I searched it, but the extra confusing minutes trying to find this poem WERE WORTH EVERY SECOND. First off, I love how the students aren’t lying dormant, but the teachers are! My only criticism is in the second stanza where you say “got all mushy.” Who got all mushy? The situation (“it got all mushy”), the person the narrator is referring to (“you got all mushy”) or the lemonade got all mushy (yeah, I know, not likely :D)? Otherwise, the last few lines were probably the most beautiful I have ever gotten to read in my entire life. And I would love to use a magnifying glass to melt Crayola crayons, and it is currently on my bucket list now XD Amazing job. Just amazing. Wow. I don’t know what else to say, except don’t stop writing. I think I will cry if you do. Literally. And I wanna see more of your work on TeenInk XDD Have a great day! Wow. That was long. Sorry ^_^

on Jun. 12 2013 at 8:42 am
WrenArrington, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
0 articles 0 photos 74 comments
I love anything to do with color, so I pretty much liked this before I even read it :P I liked the chronological story told in a simple but moving way, with the crayon reference beginning in the second stanza and appearing more times along the way. It's always good to have a theme in a story-poem like this. I really can't think of any criticism, which is pretty rare for me, so congrats :P Keep writing!

on Jun. 12 2013 at 1:31 am
LexusMarie PLATINUM, Las Cruces, New Mexico
27 articles 0 photos 423 comments

Favorite Quote:
The more control you have over yourself, the less control others have over you.

WOW. I always greet the writer before I say anything about the work, but I can't tonight, because this was the most beautiful thing that I have ever read. So, now I will say hello and then get back to talking about the beauty of this; hello! The attention to small detail in this poem was amazing. The descriptions were crisp and clear each and every time. The love in the beginning radiated through this poem. The sadness in the end was truly over-whelming. But, the beauty of this poem was everywhere. Every single letter, word, sentence, and stanza was beautiful. This is what I call perfection. And I tip my hat off to you and I applaud you and I tell you congratulations, be proud of yourself for writing something that was truly magnificent.

on May. 4 2013 at 12:03 am
crayola_green BRONZE, Somewhere Near A Corn Field, Other
1 article 0 photos 15 comments

Favorite Quote:
Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is... his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
-Romans 12:2 (NIV)

Thank you so much!

Hanban12 ELITE said...
on May. 2 2013 at 9:15 pm
Hanban12 ELITE, Lake Worth, Florida
133 articles 7 photos 631 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them."
Henry David Thoreau

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep; slowly, and then all at once."
John Green

I literally have tears in my eyes and chills down my spine after reading this! Its just... phenomenal. Simply no words can describe something like this. A perfect story, a perfect begining, a  perfect ending. Its very descriptive and pooling with emotion, like melted crayons on a rough sidewalk. I cant believe this poem... You are extrmemely talented and seem to put all of my work to shame. Lovely writer- Please submit more! I'd love to read more of my works... This is amazing and u should be proud! :P

. said...
on Sep. 1 2012 at 2:27 pm
Thank you! :D

. said...
on Sep. 1 2012 at 2:26 pm
Thank you so much!

on Aug. 16 2012 at 11:37 pm
ohmakemeover BRONZE, Centerville, Minnesota
3 articles 0 photos 98 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Touch comes before sight, before speech. It is the first language and the last, and it always tells the truth."- Margaret Atwood

This is a fantastic piece.  When I started out reading it, I was worried that it was contrived and basic, just another story of first love, but you wove a story that is layered and colorful, beautiful and textured as Crayola crayons, and you made me care so deeply for these people I only read lines about.  Beautiful.  I love it.

on Jul. 30 2012 at 9:21 pm
forgottenpenname GOLD, Troy, Michigan
12 articles 0 photos 147 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Carpe diem."

Oh gosh, I just cried. This was beautiful, and the ending gave me chills. Wonderful work!