Her Colouring Book

Her Colouring Book

for Jessica

Before you were old enough to draw

or even hold a pencil properly

you smuggled my felt-tip

water-soluble overhead-projection pen

to your cot-bed inside pyjamas

and somewhere between the dark purple

of the long hours

you were unusually quiet

and the mauve and lilacs of first light

beneath your blinds

you knew well enough how to take

the click-cap off

ignore the white canvas of wall

and colour yourself in completely blue.