I’m black brushstrokes on canvas,
a shade shy of a feverish confession
but a tone bold enough to
remember the ruse
when a crowd approaches.

I blur into a bruised blue,
gush into a gratifying green,
and morph into

a yellow that pours
blinding lightness
into a crowd,
who is too distracted to discover
I’m black brushstrokes on canvas.

---

Aysha Mahmood is a Pakistani and Dominican writer based in Connecticut. She is the editor of a nonprofit, and her writing has appeared in Huffpost, Teen Vogue, and Nylon. IG: @ayshamahmood93!