Paint Me
With the black and orange stripes of a tiger
Take my pure white clothes of innocence
And emptiness
And Paint Me
With thick, bold strokes
Pencil in eyes
Deep enough to get lost in
Human enough to find yourself in
And when you're done
When you've painted and colored and drawn
Leave your heart on my sleeve
Take my hand in your paint-stained fingers
Give me your multicolored fingerprint
Your circle of life
And take your paints and markers and pencils and crayons
To whomever you meet
And let me walk through the crowds
Unforgettable in black and orange stripes
Unmistakable with humanity in my eyes
Let me put my heart on the sleeves
Of the white clothed student-sheep
Who walk the halls in shirts so white
Their bright red single letters blaze
Their arms tattooed by test scores
Their eyes filled up by As
And though they stride with confident swagger
Their eyes are held to Earth
For fear
Fear that your glance will race across the hall
Slam into their letter-filled eyes
And fall, tortured, to the ground
Fear
Fear that you will try to see more
More than the number out of 4.0
That owns their back
Let me leave my heart on their sleeves
As you left yours on mine
Let them look up for once
Get lost in eyes deeper than a grade
Find themselves as more than an A
And if they can't or won't
Let them be
Paint Me
Paint Me in black or white or red or blue
Or whatever
Just remember
I'm no letter
I'm a tiger
Paint Me