In the dark, the rainbow’s hues cease to exist,
where all turns to shades of black and gray.
Once, long ago,
You could seek and find flecks of light,
But now, it grows darker,
and the gray deepens further.
You exist,
Yet, you’re indifferent.
Warmth you possess,
yet you feel so cold.
Surrounded by living souls in the room,
Why then does loneliness engulf you?
All that you’ve seen and lived.
Still, you find yourself surprised anew each time.
Awaken now and realize,
Knocking avails not,
Nor does trying make a difference;
Belonging is not a given,
Just because you share their space.
And they inquire, over and again,
When they already know the answer.
No, it has never been a choice.
So, stop asking.
If darkness were optional,
Why do we sleep away the night,
In hope of tomorrow’s light?
You distanced yourself.
Then another did.
And soon, a collective retreated.
Jealousy takes hold,
Seeing “your own” welcomed and integrated,
While the outsider is pushed aside,
turning gray.
We all arrived here by the same path.
The human path,
Yet you found pride in the color of your skin, and that of your friends.
But in darkness, our colors vanish.
In the darkness, all is black.
There, everything turns to gray.
