Ode To A Box Of Crayons
By: Jehangir Saleh
Written: November 7, 2001

My sister Jasmine brought me
A box
Of sticky crayons
Which she melted herself
With her tiny hands of innocence
Eight crayons of adhesive,
A child’s crazy glue
I let them drop to the floor
As if being caught
For narcotics possession
The evidence staining
My hands
Destructive crayons,
Defecating on the
Carpet
Tarnishing its white
Purity
An oil slick
In a perfect sea
Dogmatic crayons,
Spilling out my
Murky existence
The colors are sharp
Truthful
Prophetic
They whisper to me
Revelations of deep
Red hate

I stare
They stare back
The moral
Of my ode is this:
Evil lurks within
Colors
When it is a matter
Of a box of crayons
Melting
Innocence is stained
In Red