If Emotion Was A Colour Poem by Althea Tan

If emotion was a colour,
It would be dark.
Just like the mid-night sky.
With birds that soar,
And bright stars that fly.
Like burning fire
And things that never bore

If emotion was a taste, it would be bitter.
Just like ­smoke and ash.
Like the flames that come from hail and fire, Acerbic,
And broken history left in rust

If emotion was a smell, it would be an aroma not quite known.
Something noxious but ambrosial.
Like buttercups long since left in dust,
And water mixed with red

If emotion was a sound, it would be sharp.
Like a knife that scratches metal.
A grating sound that pierces ears,
and leaves deep wounds behind.

If emotion was something I could touch,
I would run away forever
Evading the feelings
And dreams that were crushed
Beneath harsh heels and feet

So I take my heart and find a case
To keep them under lock and key

(And if I find that heart of mine, I'll hide away forever.
Because I
don't long to find
The shattered remains of love)