Where Have All the Rainbows Gone?
I wrote “Where Have All the Rainbows Gone?” last week as I wondered why people fear rainbows? Ultimately it’s about a world whitewashed years ago when all colors, especially rainbows, were outlawed.
I started writing this wondering why people fear rainbows. So, I Googled, I kid you not, “Why are people afraid of rainbows?” And I came across a 1992 opinion piece in The New York Times, Fear of the Rainbow by Sasha Allyson.
Reading that piece reminded me we have been here before as a race and a people. And it isn’t the children leading the hate and fear. Yet, yet again, the adults claim they know what’s best. And what they think is best is to extinguish the rainbows.
The Rebellion
Except now, these fear-mongering adults are going after the younger generation by legislating healthcare. But this generation of young people has grown up with the now more commonplace books that were so novel (pun intended) in the early 1990s about having two daddies or two mommies.
These young people have grown up with and continue to hear the messages about loving and being yourself. And they know those messages to be true.
I do not believe they will go quietly into the night and allow the rainbows to be extinguished ever again.
Triggering Moments
I am reminded of my childhood as I watch the news as these narcissistic adults try to control the narrative around gender, drag, and anything that isn’t white-conservative. But not for the reasons you might think.
What is happening reminds me of growing up with narcissistic abusive parents. I see narcissistic abusive adults trying to control the world by spreading false narratives about a group of people they use as scapegoats. When in fact, it’s the people spreading those lies we should fear.
I just realized why I have been having such a hard time lately. Watching narcissistic abuse play out on the national stage is very triggering.
Where Have All the Rainbows Gone?
Faces upturn
as a burst of color explodes across
the horizon.
Bland features contort with fear,
anger, and disbelief that such a thing
is occurring in their midst.
But not all who look are afraid.
The child looks on with amazement,
wonder, and intrigue.
Confused by the growing anger,
the child wonders,
how could something so beautiful
make people angry?
Exclamations of,
“Shield the children!”
shatter the stillness of the moment.
Hands move
to cover the innocent from
what some say should never be seen,
for it is wrong.
The crowd murmurs,
How could this have happened?
Why now?
After years of a white, colorless world,
why now?
But the crowd is mistaken, for the world
has not been colorless at all.
The late-night fairy tales told to the child
brought color, light, and beauty to the otherwise drab,
white world.
And the child often wondered,
while raptly listening to the tales of wonderous color,
where had all the rainbows gone?
And now, here they are!
The child’s eyes round with admiration and appreciation,
Oh, how brilliant and beautiful!
The child thinks, staring into the
twirling, swirling colors.
Why can’t this be in our world? The child curiously wonders
as the crowd’s disbelief and fear become angry,
hateful.
Surging forward, the crowd
overwhelms the rainbows as they dance,
extinguishing the dazzling rays.
Except, perhaps not extinguished,
for those who have seen,
and will remember
the rainbows.
Those wonderful rainbows,
as the last color fades,
destroyed by the white, bland world of fearful
hearts.
The child understands now
where all the rainbows had gone.
And somewhere deep within,
rebellion stirs. And the child thinks,
not again.
It is very stressful to live in this world right now. The level of hate and fear-mongering is at an all-time high. Now more than ever, therapy will help you, as it did me.
I recommend Online-Therapy.* 
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