Shades of Grey

I have a very special friend. We became friends in Geneva because we were attracted to the same loves, four-legged creatures, good food and good writing. She has written this poem which I am reproducing here with her kind permission because it talks loudly to me for many reasons. It is forthright and bright, clear and cutting. Perhaps, in a strange way, it is also the perfect precursor for my next blog entry which is the Camel Fair in Pushkar.

Shades of Grey


please don’t give me those shades of grey

don’t cloud the colours of life

why seek to mask with diction soft

and guarded smile

the errant thoughts

wayward acts

misdemeanours of each day



that faded pink was once a glorious red

the sizzling orange now turns mushy peach

while you thrash and thresh the truth

in vain attempt to blind and hide

what’s true, but wrong to say outright

or so you think, and deeper sink

into a misty mire of gloom



time will tell, the way it does

and once the blinds are drawn

the black will show as boldest black

and white as purest white

so think again, and why not now

relieve the conscience, free the soul

today can be a clear new day

purged free of hazy shades of grey