Of Rainbows and Kittens

Content notes: bullying

There once was a boy who looked nothing special,
Played football and chess, of middling height.
He had many friends, although all rather casual
’Cause no one could see what he held deep inside.

Each day he would wait for school to be finished,
For playtime to end, his homework all done.
As then he would start, with joy undiminished
With that thing he loved and could share with none.

He knitted a shawl in the color of rainbows,
But knitting was not all he did on his own.
Onto the shawl he stitched snowdrop and primrose,
Some crows and a squirrel, two stars as they shone.

The rainbow shawl worked for him like a bridge
To enter a world full of beauty and light.
Many wonders lay just beyond the ridge –
He played among them, his heart and eyes wide.

The world on the outside seemed dreary and gray
He felt alive only when holding that shawl.
Until, just to keep all the bleakness away
He wore it to school: it was cold, it was fall.

His friends they all laughed as they saw what he wore –
Rainbows and kittens, and was that a troll?
He felt sadder and gladder than ever before,
Free and alone through the hall he did stroll.

But one youngster shyly did step in his way,
Turned down their collar, exposing their throat,
Where a rainbow shawl sparkled, as bright as the day,
Covered with chickens, a dog and a goat.

The youngsters grew up, but did not grow old,
They still knit and stitch and dream once a while.
And in each other’s hands they carefully hold
Their dreams and their hopes, some tears and a smile.

A rainbow does lead, or so I’ve been told,
To a treasure that lies at its end.
Maybe it won’t be a pot of pure gold,
But a place that is safe. And a friend.