Filtered

Take a look in front of you

and tell me what it is you see.

Do you wear a filtered lens or

see you colors just like me?

.

What I see is blackness, darling,

what I see is purple-blue.

See you not the bruises nor the

drooping eyes just like I do?

.

"What I see are eyes," you say,

"and what I see is plainly skin."

See you not the creatures clawing

from beneath the wrinkled lids?

.

Strip away whatever filter

separates you from the world.

Look at all the colors blooming

from their toenails to their curls.

.

Take a look in front of you

and tell me what those colors are.

"White," you say. What kind of white?

"Just white like any other star."

.

What I see are ashes, honey,

what I see is flame gone old.

Look beneath the dusty surface;

there, I see the glowing coals.

.

"Why must there be redness?" say you.

"Why not simply leave it white?"

Redness -- it means embers, and

an ember means it may relight.

.

Strip away whatever filter

leaves you all but colorblind.

Feel the fev'rish hope in you

with open heart and open mind.

.

Take a look in front of you

and tell me: What shade stains a kiss?

"Pink," you say. "Or maybe red."

Red? "Or orange. Orange bliss."

.

What I see is orange, sweetie.

What I see is what you know.

Look on past the orange, now,

and tell me why it's colored so.

.

"Red is love," you say at once,

"and yellow... Well, it's simply there."

See you not beyond the color?

See you not of yellow's dare?

.

Strip away whatever filter

shields all meaning from your mind.

Dip your hand into the lake and

of its muddy depths you'll find.

.

Take a look in front of you

and tell me of those bloodshot eyes.

"Red..." you say, "a crimson pained,

so chilly it could wilt the skies."

.

What I see is crimson, too.

"And what I see are angry maps...

Looks like someone needs to follow.

Make that choice and not turn back..."

.

"Is this what it's like," you ask,

"to tear the galaxy to shreds,

to strip your filtered vision bare

and look beyond with heart and head?"

.

"Strip away whatever filter

dampens of this awful world.

This is what you're breathing for:

to watch the skies with mind unfurled."

.

Take a look in front of you

and tell me what it is you see.

Do you wear a filtered lens or

see you people just like me?