Outside The Lines Poem by Jim Yerman

When I was young…working with crayons…no matter the design…
my teacher was adamant…when it came to coloring…one must stay within the lines.

And I tried to color her way…the way she comprehended…
but I was always fascinated with where the individual colors met…
and in the different ways they blended..

When I tried to capture the colors of the rainbow…I attempted to follow teacher's plan…
but I never could discover where one color ended…and where the next began.

I didn't get a good grade in art back then…our art intentions didn't align…
and my teacher never understood why I liked coloring outside the lines.

If I was teaching art today…to children in grade school…
there would be no restrictions…I wouldn't make up any rules.

I would allow children the creativity to come up with their own designs…
and the freedom for them to choose whether they color inside or outside the lines.

Oh, I'd have pictures with lines if they wanted them…trees and flowers and doves
but I'd also have blank papers and ask them to draw and color things like happiness..and love.

"Draw and color safety…peace…compassion." I'd tell them.
"The lines you draw…the colors you choose are totally up to you."
"You decide what kindness looks like…and the colors for friendship too."

Perhaps they'll learn as I did…perhaps they'll comprehend…
the wonders in the world when they see how the colors blend.

It would be my goal they find the beauty in the different colors they combine…
and they they will always be inspired and unafraid…to color outside the lines.