The Different Kid

The Different Kid was colorful

His voice was loud

His eyes were bright

Sunny hair and a wide, white smile

They say that if you brushed against him,

You’d walk away with a rainbow on your shoulder

And a warm feeling in your skin

On a golden day,

In a bright red park,

The Different Kid

Was too colorful for three others

Who had painted themselves red

In an attempt to blend in with their current surroundings

So they hit and laughed and kicked and teased

Until the Different Kid

Was drained of color

Transparent and fragile as cellophane,

The Different Kid went home

A was later found in a dead, brown tree

Swinging in the colorless wind

It’s strange, really,

How the boy whose endless colors

Made everyone smile

Was never smiling himself

And we didn’t notice

Until the color was gone