A nagging doubt
As my footsteps dulcet echo across the darkened dismal cobbles of a dreary street
Dutiful.
A whisper of solace
As our lives we share, and you weep and ache with despair
Comforter.
A cacophony of cheeriness
As we stride with gusto into growing uncertainty
Supporter.
A melancholy melody of metamorphosis
As I struggle to flutter and fly, reaching for the stars in the sky and knowing that I
wore the mask of the chameleon.
A rich and colourful cadenza of congeniality
As I reminisce and retreat
Into my own colourless void.
© Alison Jean Hankinson
This if for poetics at d’Verse.
The image was labelled for reuse and was in the public domain- wikimedia-
By Nic McPhee from Morris, MN, USA (Corn and sunflower (butterfly is optional)) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
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Hues of Hankinson 
Applause for the twist of this – not ‘who?’ but ‘what?’
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Love this.. and also feel it’s like you drain your colors for others.. too common that we use our masks for that.
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Gosh that’s deep….but you might have a little bit of truth….
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I love the shape of this poem, Alison, which reflects the tentative feel of it. I like the alliteration on ‘d’ that echoes like footsteps through the first stanza, the whispering sound and the ‘cacophony of cheeriness’.
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I liked this line: “A melancholy melody of metamorphosis”. I hadn’t thought of metamorphosis being melancholic before.
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Ugh, that ending is the worst. (The feeling, not the words.) You’re too colorful for that kind of close. I don’t believe this is you.
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Much love to you. XXX
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This begs to be read over and over so as not to miss a line! BRAVO
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Yes, that is who we are, changing our colours to meet the needs of others.
And retreating into that colourless world oft brings solace…
Anna :o]
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I especially love this line…”As my footsteps dulcet echo across the darkened dismal cobbles of a dreary street”
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This is so deep and thought provoking. We all wear the masks in our lives.
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LOVE the butterfly image you’ve chosen to illustrate your words….the title goes so very well here also. Perhaps we are a chameleon….a butterfly….and then sometimes, a dull moth?
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I agree that your form enhances the message, but also that you have a multicolor aura, and that a “colorless void” was for your narrater only. This prompt has stimulated depth & introspection by all; so cool.
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Many thanks Glenn. XXX
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I taste the flavour of self-sacrifice. Good one, Alison!
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