after-school painting lessons by Anushka Nagarmath (Lucent Dreaming Issue 10)

we shape
blurred landscapes with
bleak horizons
swallowing torsos of mountains
in a violent dusk,
deliberately choosing
blues and blacks
for the surrounding heavens
that have never
granted our wishes

you and i
know why
van gogh didn’t use
his favourite yellow
to paint the sunshine
as much as he used it
for the fluffy crowns
of the wheatfields
and the drooping faces
of the sunflowers

because it is hard
to let happiness soak
the entire sky
to deserve the forgiveness
of the damp light,
that falls over
all our blistered bodies
without disgust
or discrimination
so we dip our fingers
into the swirls of darkness
letting it stain every inch,
sprinkling only a pinch
of brightness
through fleeting touches
of grey
here and there,
on a stray cloud or
the moon’s bruises

these ruined canvases
of our hands
can’t yet bring themselves
to paint a sunrise
so they press the night
onto the paper
over and over again
always leaving spaces
for the stars
hoping that someday
they will learn
how to fill them

Buy issue 10 today.

Lucent Dreaming is an independent creative writing magazine publishing beautiful, imaginative and surreal short stories, poetry and artwork from emerging authors and artists worldwide. Subscribe to Lucent Dreaming now, support us on Patreon and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.