if your life’s a vacuum with empty shades of grey
and no one there beside you to add colour to your day
trapped within four walls in an isolated room
the chill air and the darkness suggestive of a tomb
curtains drawn at windows, locks to keep you safe
a self-constructed prison, and no hope of escape
the phone as dead as you, disconnected from the wall
and technicoloured mailshots lie scattered in the hall
through the tiny window gleams kaleidoscopic light
dancing on the tiled floor until day meets the night
do you live in shades of grey?
copyright © 2019 Karen Horsley