Playing With Crayons
Andrew Oldham

You cannot cadge my crayons.
You cannot talk about my crayons.
You cannot look at my crayons.
When I am crayoning you must leave the room.
When I hang my pictures on the fridge,
you cannot use them to make notes:
(1) Not even for phone numbers.
(2) Not even in emergencies.
If I leave the crayons on the table,
you must put them away in the correct order;
even though you do not know what that is.
Whatever I draw you have to recognise what I tell you it is.
When I shove pencils into locks to keep you from whispering to others
you will believe me when I say, ‘You are wrong’.
You will believe in my crayons.
All the colours are yours to look at but only if I say you can.