Black Reversal

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Black Reversal

Black as midnight. Black as coal.
Black as a remorseless soul.
Who dares face this shade of night?
This shade of death, color of fright.
Villains surround their back and nape
with a satin coal black cape.

Sirens slash their eyes with it,
then lower lids into a slit
to vanquish men and draw them in
to a life of sex and gin.
Shades of ebony and slate
do not grace the pearly gate.

Hear my warning. Hear it well—
black marks the entry gates to hell.
So turn your back to shades of night.
Save yourself. Turn on the light.
Black Jack, Black Sabbath, Black as sin?
These time-aged phrases have worn thin.

So do bigots fill our head
when we should realize instead
that black is not where evil starts.
There is no shade or hue to hearts.
Black is not the shade of sin,
and black is beautiful on skin!

For dVerse Poetics Shades of Black.

To see other poems on the subject of “Black” go HERE.

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About lifelessons

My blog, which started out to be about overcoming grief, quickly grew into a blog about celebrating life. I post daily: poems, photographs, essays or stories. I've lived in countries all around the globe but have finally come to rest in Mexico, where I've lived since 2001. My books may be found on Amazon in Kindle and print format, my art in local Ajijic galleries. Hope to see you at my blog.

21 thoughts on “Black Reversal”

  5. kim881's avatarkim881

    The rhythm of your poem reminds me of William Blake, Judy, as does the line ‘Black as a remorseless soul. / Who dares face this shade of night?’ I love the Victorian melodrama Penny dreadful feel to the lines:
    ‘Sirens slash their eyes with it,
    then lower lids into a slit
    to vanquish men and draw them in
    to a life of sex and gin.’

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  8. koolkosherkitchen's avatarkoolkosherkitchen

    Beautiful poem, Judy. I think any color of skin is beautiful, and Claude Monet claimed that nature had no pure black or pure white colors. There are shades of everything, and everything is mixed, including human emotions and attitude.

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