the color of truth
so ingrained in the wood
of our lives the christian
clergy still wear it

black and white
an obvious demarcation
a quick sidestep dance
between yes and no

this and not this
as if words could be
milled to such precision
filed within a dust of difference

true not true
one goes forward
to make better lives
we are told

ever vigilant for normalcy
the other’s tossed
quietly onto a pile
a simple quality control

where no deviation dwells
where no heresy is spoken
no tired eyes from sleepless nights
no worry about the wife’s cough

or where dinner will come from tonight
nothing to stop the winnowing’s purity
everything’s perfectly replicable
all here in black and white

(August 2011)