Embrace The Grey

     To be happy, joyful, winsome-

     But deep inside I often felt,

     Quite dreadful, sad, and lonesome.

     I held this message in my heart,

     That grey moods should be hidden-

     And soon those feelings understood

     They were ugly and forbidden.

     I smiled through life and others praised

     My bright and pleasant affect-

     I felt that I had found the way

     To be happy and perfect.

     But rather than disintegrate,

     The darkness just increased-

     And I feared that if I ever cried,

     The tears would never cease.

     But why? I asked, frustration mounting,

     Why am I so broken?

     For happiness is a matter of choice

     And sad words need not be spoken.

     I blamed myself and felt ashamed

     That positivity was absent.

     I had no right to feel so sad

     On paper, my life was excellent.

     Until one day I met someone

     Who taught me something new-

     That grey feelings were valid and

     Deserved time in the sun too.

     Why do the sad feelings we have

     Get locked away inside?

     Do they deserve less love and awe

     Than the others we share with pride?

     For dark and lightness must be joined

     To support and compliment-

     And a life that skews that simple truth

     Will be misaligned and bent.

     These feelings don’t just shrivel and die

     When you hide them deep inside-

     They fester and they multiply

     Until they are embraced with pride.

     So accept the lonely, sad, and grey

     Don’t treat them like a pest-

     For they carry meaning and value too;

     They are as beautiful as the rest.