As children we are told

Right and wrong are black and white

And the hard line between them is time and place

That green means good and red means

Stop

 

Leave no stone unturned but

Leave it cleaner than when you found it,

March to the beat of your own drum but

Stand in a single file line,

Have passion but pursue practicality,

Please others but don’t displease yourself,

They forgot to include the grey areas

hidden in the corners of our black and white world.

 

They didn’t tell us

That sundresses mommy made for you turn into lingerie worn for him

That compliments turn into cat calling

That holding hands turn into holding bodies

tightly, lovingly, forcefully,

That bodies turn into little grey objects.

To play with and destroy like little children with a brand new toy

Except we can’t replace this toy when we get tired.

 

Some of us had to teach ourselves to wrap stories around our shoulders for protection,

playing pretend for the rest of our lives;

Or never putting down those childhood crayons

But instead letting the colors flow through you

Filling the grey in a way that doesn’t belong to anyone else.

We understand,

My green may never be your green

And grey isn’t bleak

But blank

An opportunity, an opinion

And grey is okay.