Words: Zein Al-Maha Oweis she/her
Artwork: Monica Tate
Colours have always been a confusing matter
One by one they seep into one another
What is meant to be is not what it seems
Confusion always takes flight
Beyond the surface
Brown is purple, purple is brown
This is what triggered the start of my journey
Into the rabbit hole of colour-blindness
Pink and orange starks confusion
Is it a flower blooming from the Earth’s core?
Or is it the smell of an orange being peeled on a hot summer’s day
Whereas gold and silver unite as one
Meshing shadows of the moon and sparkles of the stars
Blue and black combined together
Enter a fashion disaster of denim and leather
White and yellow are crystals
Like a glass window you walk into blindsided by sunshine
While patterns overwhelm specks of vision
Like an endless maze of circles and chequered boxes
However, with time, you learn to tame the confusion
You begin to see colours in a different light
Through memory, smell, touch, and sometimes taste
Take red for example,
Red has many meanings
Yet to me
Red is one of the only colours I see
It gives me strength
Feelings of happiness and confidence
Radiate from thy colour
Purple and brown
Two colours
Opposites on the spectrum
Yet, thick as thieves
Brown tastes like chocolate
Melting on the tip of my tongue
Purple smells like lavender
Memories of my grandmother surface
White and yellow
Paper and sun
Smooth and warm
Light and bright
While one is close on earth
The other lightyears away
Blue and black
Calm and chaotic
While one is soothing
The other is troubling
Water running over your body
Crows cawing, death is near
Gold and silver
Always aloof
Wondering whether my watch
Was yellow or white
Or whether the shiny shimmers
Were silver or gold
The only thing that helped
Were the colours of my braces
However, gone, never forgotten
In the end, everyone sees colours
In their own ways
They are never black and white
Colours are a maze
Everyone adventures through this maze
In their own way
Mine is a maze
A colour scheme
One I have created from scratch
A painting that showcases
The way I navigate my life
A world of colours
Meshed together
Hugging one another
Quite a world I have created
Filled with colours that I can
And cannot see
However, not everything is
As it seems
Beyond the surface
