Upbringing

My smile painted with watercolor 

Meant to wash away with the weather 

Staining dry on a layer of a thin whitened canvas

With the pigments of pastels,

In replacement of my worldly, neutral tones

The blueprint of my ancestry tinted 

The plans of my future drawn over

Sometimes I wish they didn’t add their own hue to mine

But they used watercolor 

And not sharpie 

I can wash it,

Away.