Black and White

This poem is another re-post.  It's the next one in my notebook, and it's one of my all-time favorites.  I probably spent more time on it than any other poem I've ever written.  I was inspired to write Black and White as I reflected on my mission and how it helped me to see things from others' viewpoints.  I finished it in Israel as I visited various churches and learned about different cultures and continued opening my eyes to the many beautiful cultures and belief systems throughout the world.


Black and White

I used to think
in black and white
A thing was wrong
or a thing was right

Why don't you think
the way I do?
What's right for me
is right for you.

But then one day,
twixt dusk and dawn
I saw the grey
come creeping on.

I stumbled--
There was naught to grasp
No absolute
for me to clasp

But on I pressed
through mists of dark
Not quite depressed
Yet not a lark

And as I toiled
throughout the day
A guiding hand
Showed me the way

And through the struggle
I gained strength
and hope sprang up
Until at length

A shaft of light
pierced through the gloom
And in my heart
I felt more room

The fog was broken
by the beams
of Daybreak’s
diamond dewy dreams

A thousand colors,
shades and hues
Of purple, orange
reds and blues

Danced across
the damask skies
Till teardrops glistened
On my eyes

The golden morning
sailed on
Yet in my mem'ry
It lives on

That day when first
I learned to see
The rainbow's
Multiplicity

And when I'm tempted
to give voice
to judgment
on another's choice

I feel the glory
of that day
And then I'm thankful
for the grey.