Discernment

It’s the ash that comes after the fire.

The same fire that brings the light

to our eyes

so we can see

what tends to shade us from each other in the daytime.

Yet, the fire comes before the charcoal

The same charcoal that holds the heat

to our feet

so we can walk

across the fears that mostly surface in the nighttime

Then the charcoal loves the food into a smoke

The same smoke that carries the flavor

to our throats

so we can swallow

all the crow that we seasoned in our mealtimes

The smoke cools before it moves within the fog

The same fog that moves the vapors

to our skin

so we can slide

between the blends of black and white in our lifetimes

I enjoy traveling the winding roads and following the many folds

of gray matter.

I enjoy holding in my mind

the tensions we tend to evade

and the opinions that move in opposite ways

so I can find the through line that binds

the ash, charcoal, smoke, fog and other shades of gray.