If you paint your nails grey
Allow your little finger to
Be brazen with silver
Sparkles
Because every cloud has
A silver lining
If you paint your nails blue
Speckle everything you do
With baby constellations
Of stars. Tell people they’re
Really black, the navy effect
Is the offset from the glow.
If you paint your nails red
They will accessorise everything
Except when you feel like blending
Into the background.
At this point, red nails know how
To take centre stage for you
If you paint your nails yellow,
Release your fingers on
Adventures down the splinter
Ridden crevices of pastel beach
Huts, match like with like by using
Your fingers to filter the sun through
To this world. Look after yourself. Keep
Chipping to a minimum.
If you paint your nails black, make
It your mission to chase out the real
Darkness that you did not request
Before the last fragment of matt black
Chips away.
If you don’t paint your nails
Dig through the coal dust
Until your fingernails break
And your hands bleed
Dig past the grievances you
Buried long ago. Do not stop
Until you find a diamond.
If you find a diamond, there is no need to paint your nails.
January 23rd, 2013 at 4:47 am
This is a really beautiful piece of work. You’ve taken a subject about which I know nothing (and care even less) and made it not only interesting but revealing.
I’d say toss this one out of the nest and watch it fly.
January 23rd, 2013 at 11:19 pm
I’m glad I managed to make the topic interesting for you! It certainly wasn’t something that had ever struck me as relevant before, then this poem was written rather cautiously with wet nails one day and here we are! Thank you