Simple Black and White


We remember when our world was white
With lightning streaks in sight of black,
And not a host of grays to track,
To muddle-up our days.
Nostalgia makes our memories dearer;
Nights seem brighter; days seem clearer.
We remember times “back then”
When life was simply living;
Life was loving, working, giving -
Play by day and pray by night,
When wrong was wrong and right was right.
We see the black each time
We remember when our world was white.

I once knew the way of simple black and white
But now without the gray the contrast is too bright
Almost cartoonish, edges stark -
The white too light, the black too dark.
I need some shades of gray to soften
Like the halos seen so often
‘Round the once hard edges auras
Make a slight off-white distortion
This my part of marbled portion
Round the black a charcoal hue
Can blend the soot – so black it’s blue
Gray adds luster to my life
Once I quit recalling simple black and white.

By Susan R Holmes
23 Dec 2009