It’s morning
It’s raining
There is grey in the corners
And a black plastic frame
No reds
No yellows
No light to spark a flame
Painting by colours

The sea isn’t flat
The wind howls
The trees dance
They might break
No colours
Are reflected
In the damp puddles
Painting by colours

Even the cars
Aren’t so bright
Delivery vans white
And filthy
No numbers
No index
Can’t paint by numbers
So paint by colours

The birds in flight
Between downpours
All grey and murky
Sharpened claws
The police
Who hide all day
Old uniforms
Faded to grey

Sitting at home
Admiring monochrome
Why does everything
Have to fade away
The rain smudges
Everything into blotches
Like the ink runs
From the kitchen sink
Still a little sticky
Not so sweet
The fumes of evaporation
From damp feet

And the socks you wear
Are worn and brown
The elastic is broken
So they fall down
The rain lashes
Seeps through porous walls
Fighting to stay warm
And keep the humidity down

The wind rattles the windows
The cats take flight
Why did it have to rain all day
And all through the night
We want to see some colours
So please change the palette
Some subtle shades
My brush is already wet

When we paint with colours
It drips to the floor
Making mosaic diamond patterns
It glitters and glows
Footprints and pawprints
From the bathroom to the lawn
Peeling away the wallpaper
To see where the bugs have gone

It only rains when you windscreen wipers are broken
The sun comes out when you are without sunglasses
When the colours shine they are so bright
Twinkling stars in the dead of night
Be easy with the easel
Don’t waste the canvas
So come paint with colours
Please join us

We’ll paint the morning
In different colours
In yellows
And reds
Two strokes more
And positivity is lit
We can’t stop now
The grass is bright green
All the windows
Have a powerful sheen
Rainbows in the ladies eyes
Thunder in the rest
We aren’t perfect
But we try our best

We smudged the pencil line
So we have to sketch a new outline
Adjusting for movement
Compensating for sway
In the darkest corners
We add the light of day
We paint some more
Until the colours run out
But we’ve made things better
Without a doubt

At the end of the day
Most people smile
Another hurdle is surpassed
I hope it was worthwhile
As we sit and relax
Under once blue skies
The dark shades of night
And the nocturnal life starts to play

Did we make it a better day
Did we make some of our problems
Go away
Did we paint over the cracks
Did we iron out the creases
Or are we still all in a million pieces.

Work of art centuries old
Weathered and worn
With patience and a steady hand
Will be restored
Just like we restore our days
Retuning the piano sing and rejoice
With new colours we find our voice
Painting and living by colours