I have seen wicked priests and honourable thieves
I have observed benevolent criminals and bad cops
I have experienced kind debt collectors and unfair judges
And I have drunk from the cup of gracious friends and cruel relatives
It’s not so black and white, is it?
So where is my own moral high ground?
The clues are there
(I hope)
….somewhere
©Vivian Zems
Poets United -Midweek Motif-Evidence
Smell The Coffee 
September 19, 2018 at 6:25 pm
Good, good!
Your poem got me thinking of the opening of Hamlet, when the young man first appears:
“. . . I have that within which passeth show;
These but the trappings and the suits of woe.”
If the moral high ground shows itself, it’s in doing–not in being–not anymore.
Costume has left the stage to camouflage terrors.
And doing nothing is not possible.
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September 19, 2018 at 6:26 pm
Great insight Susan! Thank you for reading 🙏🏾
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September 19, 2018 at 7:02 pm
Very nice, Vivian.
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September 20, 2018 at 6:37 pm
Thanks Vicki!
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September 19, 2018 at 9:48 pm
So true. It is said that one cannot choose one’s family but that one can choose one’s friends. I have more closeness with my friends than I have had with my cousins and other aunts and uncles. It is not so black and white, unfortunately. Excellent use of the prompt!
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September 20, 2018 at 6:36 pm
Thanks Toni- well said!
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September 19, 2018 at 10:16 pm
I think we have to find our own way and somehow pray others find there’s.
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September 20, 2018 at 6:36 pm
Absolutely!
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September 20, 2018 at 1:01 am
Trust no one, we are on our own. Such is civilization, isn’t that a misnomer!
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September 20, 2018 at 6:35 pm
Isn’t it just?
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September 20, 2018 at 1:15 am
Brilliant juxtapositions, Vivian. A true mystery you describe so well!
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September 20, 2018 at 6:35 pm
Thank you, Frank😊
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September 20, 2018 at 2:13 am
A wonderful response to the prompt!
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September 20, 2018 at 6:34 pm
Thanks Sherry!
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September 20, 2018 at 6:25 am
I like this contrast between reality and appearance and the pertinent question, “It’s not so black and white, is it?”…Nice, always.
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September 20, 2018 at 6:34 pm
Thanks Sumana 😊
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September 20, 2018 at 5:24 pm
We find our own way, out of the black and white, into the gray.
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September 20, 2018 at 6:33 pm
Indeed we do!
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September 20, 2018 at 5:48 pm
“It is not so black and white” Love the wisdom in this Vivian!!
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September 20, 2018 at 6:32 pm
Thanks Carrie!😊
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September 22, 2018 at 6:30 pm
You keep getting better and better my friend ☺
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September 27, 2018 at 6:25 pm
You’re too kind, Walt!❤️
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September 28, 2018 at 5:10 am
It’s my curse.
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