To Let A Thousand Colors Fly
It is not enough to live for ourselves alone.
In a world where orange is the new black And we care more for the discomfort Of the criminals that we see on t.v. Than we do for each other Distressed for days at the loss of a make-believe prisoner Though not for the man found rolled in newspaper His only protection against winter’s cruel hand? How can we expect to see change for the positive When we are so immersed in the void Once filled with compassion That we are no longer aware Of the gentle unfolding of warmer seasons Or the brush of a monarch’s wings?
In a world where we are more concerned With hoarding to fulfill future desire Before it has passed beyond mere potential Ensuring if anyone has something It is us first and foremost And right and left are no longer looked to for direction But have become just one more reason To disagree and wax hurtful Sticking fingers in our ears and humming Closing our eyes So no one can accuse us of knowing The message of an opinion different from our own Through the unlikely skill of lipreading
In a world where we seek to always conquer and defeat Doing to others before they have the chance to do to us And we lock ourselves in against others despair Believing it not our place to help nor our responsibility Seeing our blessings as only that to which we are automatically entitled With every tiny lack viewed as unacceptable injustice When we perceive all that we desire As a human right that must be tendered Demanding it be given or taken By or from whomever it properly belongs to Inured and calloused to pain we could so easily alleviate Annoyance the only emotion to surface Should it ever get through our ice-cold defenses
How are we ever to return to a place of humility?
When did coloring outside the lines Change from creative thought Expanded solutions To come to mean anything goes and chaos reigns While we look the other way and pretend Reversing the three wise monkeys’ creed Idiots now all? And when did this become the new normal That we accept perhaps with soured lips But accept nonetheless With no more than barely braved Lip service to the pious alternative Our unwillingness evident in our complacency?
When will we turn instead and toil To replace the darkness With a single candle’s blaze to light eternity And flaming in gold restore our humanity? When will we come to see That taking the time to pull down clouds To cushion the blistered feet of a stranger Will cause us to soar all the higher? When will we learn that it’s never too late To turn back towards our collective purpose Taking up brush and palette To paint the sunlight’s glow Then step back Eye’s reaching skyward joyfully To let a thousand colors fly?
Natalie Frank (Taye Carrol) has had short stories published in Haunted Waters Press, Weirdbook Magazine, Siren’s Call Publications, Lycan Valley Press and Zero Fiction among others. Her poetry has been featured a several anthologies. She is the Managing Editor for novellas and serials at LVP Publications.
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