HATS
Good guys wear black… I mean white…
I mean black… I mean…
How many hats can anyone wear?
Then again, who really cares?
But if you’re one of the caring few,
Consider the consequence of those we choose.
No matter what your current hat
It’s worn in shades of white through black.
Most are worn in these shades of gray.
It’s no one’s fault, just the way
We perceive ourselves on any given day.
There’s the “father” hat, often white,
Just as often black, if viewed through
Distorted lenses of domestic strife,
But white if stifling social obligations
Hold tight.
The “labor” hat is white, if self-sacrificing
No-life-of-your-own, team player
Work-for-a-song is your paradigm,
But black, if family, health, and
Self-realization are your crimes.
Most of us wear some shade of gray,
But there are plenty of absolute whites
to drive the blacks and grays away.
–LE
PS: An older one from the late aughts…; -)
CynOp 
4 responses to “Hats”
I like how you used the hat metaphor to show the complexity of identity and the roles we carry 👒🧢. The poem has a touch of humor, but also seriousness, which gives it an engaging rhythm. It’s great that it leaves room to think about how perspective changes our view 🖤🤍.
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Thanks for reading and commenting, Myrela! I’m pleased you like it…; -)
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I agree that we all wear some shade of gray. I hope mine falls into a lighter shade, but I don’t know. Probably depends on who you ask.
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I wrote this a while ago… My perspectives have clarified around a spectrum from light to no light (dark). I’m less interested in how others perceive my placement on that spectrum on any given day. I’m learning to accept my complete self, the dark and the light… (white thruough black… so to speak), because no one can always exist at either pole of it. We are human animals, after all…; -)
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