Give me the assorted felt tip markers

some with missing caps

the number two Ticonderoga slate gray graphite pencils from the highest rack

a few needing a good sharpening pass

The massive box forest green and 

goldenrod yellow backed of stacked crayola wax 

several slots filled with broken thoughts

and crayons to match

Give me the dry erase marker standard pack

with a red, a green, a blue and a black

give me the colored pencils and tattered stained stencils

so I can fill in and still win

this shattered heart on my sleeve like a flattered patch

Give me the highlighters 

the black and blue medium point bics

run over by a forklift completely jacked

and the watercolor pastel paint set

at which some dumb little boys might laugh

Give me the giant cracked tote

with scratch paper for unwritten notes

mismatched lego pieces for sail boats

and every drawing utensil out of whack

you can imagine at the back of the class

Give me the calligraphy pens

the mechanical gems

the oil based trays

and the spray paint cans

all together in one humongous batch

To color the life that I’ve lived

as a gift that I give

in an epic card to lay in your lap

You can thumb through on your own time

along with echoes of my rhyme

and keep it all gathered up in your pack

Drop the nap sack

Stop the back track

Crop the images racing 

down to what’s right in front of you

here and now 

rather than the he said she said

snatch and grab

or the clap back

Let my voice be the fast track 

to a safe landing in your heart

Let the lines grab the ratta tat tatt

or the bat back

outta your hand 

before you flip out snap

and can’t retract or cash back 

We’re one savings account

trying to defund and refund

our imagined and actual stack

of past debt

but we can’t cancel the transact 

My life has been a broken vibrant kite

flying right

through a rainbow

seen through a kaleidoscope prism

but I’m prepared to start over

and run it back

I’ll need a little bit of everything

to color it true and share it with you

but it is what it is and that’s that