Once upon a time
Words to start every tale
The cliche opening line
That makes English teachers groan
But children shut up and listen
Once upon a time
There were books
Books that told tales
Of adventures and lessons
Books that taught kids
Binary lessons
Of good
And of evil
Once upon a time
The world was split into right and wrong
Into good guys and bad guys
Then we grew up
The world became gray
Nothing was obvious
And everyone suffered
Once upon a time
We learned lessons that mattered
We learned how to be kind
We learned how to be loved
We loved ourselves
Once upon a time
There were people who protected us
Looked out for us
Made sure we didn't try to slay the dragon
Before we were ready
Once upon a time
We were thrown into the fire
By those who didn't care
And carefully patched up
And sent on our way
By those who understand
We aren't fireproof
Once upon a time
It was important to include everyone
It was all for one
And one for all
No matter where you looked
Once upon a time
News mattered
People dying mattered
Casualties were unacceptable
Because the world was black and white
Once upon a time
We realized some things had to be gray
And that was a good thing
But they took it too far
And now
Everything is a smokey haze
And no one wants to care
If it doesn't hurt them personally
But enough is enough
We need to be clear
We need to add black and white
Back into the spectrum
Just one's not enough
Not black
Not grey
Not white
You need all three
Black and white for moral truths
Murder is bad
Kindness is good
None of this nonsense
That grey is okay
Because then minorities get hurt
And people get killed
As we fight a war
Over who's gray
Is the proper shade
Gray is okay
When no one gets hurt
Binary gets lost
When opinions reign
And that's okay
Until opinions rule fact
And fact loses value
And people
Die
Enough is enough
Gray needs rules
Gray needs to be regulated
By black and white
Gender
And race
And sexuality
And lifestyle
These are areas
That are always gray
And that's okay
What's not okay
Is the people who
In touting themselves
As superior binary thinkers
Disregard the basics
of binary thinking
And murder is justified
And differences are cause for attacks
And hate
And death
When the binary
Of good is good
And bad is bad
Breaks down
The gray that is okay
Becomes besieged
By the gray that is not
And never should be
Okay
Once upon a time
I embraced the world
And all it had to offer
But now I lay awake
And fear that dreams stay dreams
And immoral gray will become the norm
Under the guise
Of the childhood binary
Once upon a time
Children learn the right lessons
But adults know none
When do we lose our minds?
When do we forget
To be kind
