Today I found a can of paint.
The paintbrush was there, too.
Mommy must have left it
when her painting was all through.
It was such a pretty color,
I learned you call it 'red'.
It made me think of pretty things
that same color in my head.
I painted rainbows from the sky,
and hearts, and bows for hair.
When Mommy saw it, she got mad
and sat me in a chair.
She told me I was naughty
and to think of what I’d done.
While I thought, she scrubbed and scrubbed
and cleaned off all my fun.
I’ll never understand my mom,
why she laughed when we were through...
I only said I wished
the pretty color had been blue.