Life Isn'T Black And White, It's Gray Poem by Jesse Ellsbury

Life Isn'T Black And White, It's Gray

Rating: 4.8


as gray as a storm-strewn winter day
or smoke coming out of an addict’s mouth,
every day is full of doubt
and it’s impossible to tell
who is good and who is bad,
who is sick and who is well,
I live in a store that has nothing to sell
and nothing to be stolen,
nothing’s profane and nothing is holy,
I don’t choose sides, I avoid confrontation,
if you hit me in the face we’ll go to peer mediation.

Life isn’t black and white, it’s gray,
love’s never pure and neither is hate,
one’s light as a feather, the other is a lead weight,
but the feather has fleas, and lead damages brains,
every perfection has its own set of flaws,
every just nation has some unjust laws,
the only conclusion
is that there’s no use in
calling anyone else weak or strong.

Life isn’t black and white, it’s gray,
every criminal resembles a saint
when viewed from a certain light,
right becomes wrong and wrong becomes right,
friends become enemies and enemies friends,
you may love the girl but you hate her split ends,
nothing’s perfect, they say,
but that doesn’t tell me what direction to take:
do I stay for the girl or leave for the job?
Should I get rich or should I fall in love?

The magic eight ball always shows up gray,
as gray as an overcast April day,
where the storms in the sky
always rain down their lies
and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Many people think life is black and white. I disagree. I think it is gray. This poem is an analysis of living in a reality of that color.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Elena Plotkin 12 July 2013

If nothing is perfect, how do you explain this poem? A solid ten.

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