Perfection.
From a very young age,
We’re encouraged to achieve it.
Don’t go outside the lines, they tell us.
When we’re coloring our picture pages.
We are judged on how well we manage,
To stay within the little spaces.
Where the colors are unblended,
And pure right up to the lines.
But never crossing them.
Is this meant to teach us a lesson about life?
That perfection can only be attained,
If we never venture into other spaces?
Never cross the lines?
Never blend with other colors?
Maybe not consciously.
Later on we learn to accept that,
There’s no such thing as perfection.
And that all those times,
When the colors blended across the lines,
They were not mistakes, but proof of life.
That it was made by beautifully flawed,
Perfectly imperfect,
Human hands,
That cannot help,
But go outside the lines.