A Little Story
Many people don’t like the grey
It makes them uncomfortable
They never know where to put it
Can’t sit with the ambiguity.
Not sure where they stand
They force it into boxes
Labelled and marked
Black
And
White
No variation
No room for deliberation
No spectrum of colour
No time for the grey.
But I always understood the grey
Loved it even
Or loved knowing that it was there
That I could see it
Even as a small child I could always see it:
The nuances of colour
Discrepancies of character
The many reasons for doing many things.
I never understood grey to be neutral
The point of neutrality between black and white
I always understood it to be much more
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Call it sympathy
Intuition
A high degree of empathy.
The small child who understands the grey
She who clutches her new soft toy
Understanding – no knowing
That although he gave it to her
He needed that soft toy more.
The experience of softness that lay in that soft toy
His only experience of tenderness that day
Or week
Or month
Sad Sam.
That was his name – is his name
The small grey soft toy puppy
Who played a little tune
When you wound him up
Gently at the back
I loved him for all the world
For all he was:
The experience of softness and humility.
In shades of grey.
I always understood the grey
Always knew within my own body
The greys that reigned supreme
Illuminated inside of me
Flaunting their shades in the light
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I always understood the grey
Loved it
Danced with it
And let it be.
The greys of the sky
The cycle of water
And Earth
And life
Grey is the horizontal layering of stratus clouds
The soft
Gentle
Whispering of the fog
The thoughts of nature
Right in front of your eyes
🍃
Grey is the colour of average pebbles
Collected and stored
In small pockets
By precious little hands
Grey is the soft specks in a lovers eyes
Dancing
Excited
Thrilled
The greys of gratitude and kindness
The greys of the snow as it settles
Snowflake by snowflake
Patiently waiting
The invitation of fun
Osmosis:
From snowflake to snowman
Grey is the tenderness of the space
Ammonite as it has settled on the walls
Softens the light
A friendly invitation to sit
And be still a while
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Grey is not without it’s dangers
Grey can be manipulated
Contorted
Stretched
Bent with the truth
Used as a scapegoat
Grey is the middle ground
Grey is the place of understanding
Used to mute the truth.
Grey is:
‘I promise it won’t happen again’
‘You’re the only one who understands me’
Grey is the excuse for hurtful behaviour
The cheap paint job
Beloved of the Bad
And the badly behaved
Red lights spell danger
Grey distorts this light.
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But still
I’ve always understood the grey
Loved the grey
Fascinated by the stories it tells
Expands in its own light
It’s my gift
My thing
Even when it has hurt me
Or confused me
It has always allowed me to be – me
Always me.
Human me.
Flawed me.
Perfectly Imperfect me.
Understanding the grey – me
◻️
Seeing shades of grey
Between the black and white – me.
Woman in Conversation 