Gray

A wintry reminder

Sloppy cinder-snow slushes under salt-dusted boots The steel-gray sky of winter washes pasty pallor across our souls

Overcast days weigh upon us eroding happiness, though the light grows steadily longer

We feel as if we’ll never again see anything but gray

We yearn for sunshine and green For color For warmth

(though some of us will wish again for cooler weather, once it’s mid-July)

but…

Gray isn’t all grim and gloomy!

Gray is dove’s wing and pussy willow and soft mouse fur

It is grandmother’s hair and the thick silver coat of a purring cat

It is graphite, scratching across a thick scroll of creamy paper

Gray is an ashy log smoldering in a stone fireplace, throwing warmth into a bookcase-lined room

It is the pewter sliver of moon slashing a swath of light in the dusky sky

It is a pebble on a windswept beach, or a wisp of fog wafting along a forest path

Gray is quiet contemplation, faux fur blanket snuggled close

It is contentment, satisfaction, comfort, calm, collected, crystal clear and hazy all at once

It is a contrast for summer’s brightness (sometimes bracing) not too much nor too little of any one thing