you are my cousin, my aunt
you are my brother-in-law, my sister
you are the boy who sat next to me
on the classroom bench
you’re the friend I frolicked around with
in the church square
in public gardens
in the back row of class
when, do you reckon, did we start colouring everything
in red and blue
discarding the rest of the rainbow?
when, do you reckon, will we understand
(will we ever?)
that the ones who silenced you today
might smother me tomorrow
if I dared to stop applauding them
that the ones who spat in your face today
might deface your children tomorrow?
how did we not notice
that while you and I quarreled over
which was the prettier, red or blue,
someone grabbed the rest of the colours
and ran off, taking the box and all?
by Nadia Mifsud Retrieved from Poetry International at this link on October 29, 2025
Invitation: “While you and I…”
Nadia Mifsud is a Maltese author, teacher, translator, and poet based in France. She has published three books and has twice been awarded the National Book Prize for Poetry — in 2016 and again in 2022 for her collection Varjazzjonijiet tas-Skiet. In 2022, she was also named Malta’s third Poet Laureate. You can find other books by Nadia Mifsud at this link: https://www.helamalta.com/writers/nadia-mifsud
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When greed divides us,
we don’t see that in such game
everyone loses.
when, do you reckon, did we start colouring everything
in red and blue
discarding the rest of the rainbow? Nadia Mifsud.
_____________
separating people, groups and states by colors, red and blue, has its roots in political polarization. In the US, this characterization of people, counties or states is detrimental to democracy and unity.