Watercolor Blanket

There are infinite ways to be lonely

But they all converge into sleepless nights

With stinging tears streaming down one’s cheeks.

Finding oneself is such a lonesome affair

Even when you’re surrounded by people who love you.

I said so to someone who hates me once

Because I needed to hear it aloud to make it real.

I discovered that it was for me as it was uttered.

Tears trickled down post daybreak.

Another time

Someone I’d grown fond of in a short time

Asked me how I could believe in romance when my parents are divorced.

A memory came to mind:

Mami punched a window, cut her arm

And drove away, glass shards in her bleeding scar

Without a word

Or promise of return.

I sat on loop pile carpet downstairs

In a little ball

In the moonlight

And saw splotches of watercolor on it from when I painted Jenga blocks on a whim.

They must’ve been there for a while, but I hadn’t noticed until that moment

When the world was silent

And I smiled to myself.