Shed Your Gradient

By Eric Francis Dimapilis

I am dimmed.
Reduced to a darker grey;
Lighter than that of a shadow.
Creeping onto wooded floors
Of your long-forgotten past.

The uninhibited past you detest
And shamefully buried
Beneath lies of a striking green,
Deep burning scarlet,
And playful canary yellow
Stroked, and smudged to finish --
A careful spotless blending
Of lavish hypocrisy.

The silly men that flock to your side
Fooled by the colors you proudly wear.
When in truth and in happenstance,
And in fleeting time, herself at daybreak,
You realize you are colorless, empty.

But you dread change, and uncertainty,
Afraid to lose everything; afraid to go back
To being simple -- a thing that you left in shivers;
And eventually dry, and dull,
And desperate and lonely

It is I, a part of you who believes still
In clear blue skies, in fields of green,
In how simple things were, and how beautiful;
Without your bright pretenses
To darken the majestic scene

The uninhibited past you once had,
The subtle hues you cast,
You were then easier on the eyes.

Oh, will you shed your gradient for me?
Return to your once silken texture
Drown, the stark contrast,
Wipe the excess, layer by layer.

Remind yourself and welcome
These memories of sepia
A slowly fading nostalgic hand,
Knocking onto wooded doors
Of your long forgotten past