Shades of Gray — Summary

Mark MaxeyContemplative

he sees shades of gray where others encounter Technicolor lines no black and white aspects for him just shades of gray that is why boundaries. . .walls. . .dotted map lines are his saving graces

others can operate outside the lines but for him. . .outside is pure risk risk that he will become ill timed as he doesn’t see the obvious all he sees are shades of gray

lil girl with her tag-a-long brother she guides him when he does not know the way he’s never known the way. . .he’s left alone with gray left alone. . .he would wander off and not be seen left alone with his curious imagination left alone to go where he should not have gone

maps keep this lil boy in line clear cut explanations are best Ccut and dried. . .for he understands that mis-fired signals twists and shuts down his cerebral functions left alone he makes wrong conclusions

for him life is full of shades of gray totally run together with no symmetry it’s not monochrome he experiences, for colors are vibrant to him but there is no boundary. . .there are no dotted lines. . . all becomes shades of gray

all he has is curiosity. . .imagination. . .misfired thoughts jumbled world. . .jumbled edges. . .jumbled lives

he keeps quiet. . .hopes for some one to open the map sometimes he panics. . .can’t move. . .he does not want the consequences shades of gray keeps him at a distance shades of gray become his folly, others think he is unfledged... he is not merely he’s a reflection of shades of gray

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Mark Maxey's poem follows a boy who experiences the world as shades of gray. It isn't that he lacks color: the poem says colors are vibrant to him. What he lacks is edges. Without boundaries, everything runs together, so maps, walls and dotted lines become his "saving graces." Clear, cut-and-dried explanations help him; confusion makes his thoughts misfire and shut down. The poem doesn't name a condition, but the details suggest a mind that struggles to read signals other people find obvious.

The speaker watches him with tenderness and some worry. A little girl guides her tag-along brother, because left alone he wanders, imagines and reaches wrong conclusions. He stays quiet, hopes someone will "open the map," and sometimes freezes in panic. Others think he is naive, but the poem insists he isn't. The mood is gentle and anxious, shaped by the repeated "left alone" and "jumbled." It asks us to see his difference as a way of seeing, not a flaw.

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