In a field of bluegrass
a green stop sign
pouring black rain

glowing gray skies
tiny white lies
a black wedding dress

a world of white rappers
and black presidents
boys wearing pink

girls wearing blue
hot with Technicolor
and incandescent hues

sodalite blues
over silver black seas
skies of lavender

atomic tangerine
kaleidoscopic dreams
in cream-colored rooms

slaves locked in chains
of red, white, and blue
shades of faded freedom

burn sienna through the sunset
this house is built of goodbyes
and needles under swing sets


broken hearts and fake friends
PTSD war vets, pushing politicians

backing hate crimes and racists
sign posts in language
and overdue mortgage statements

liquidate a family's $$#ets
to satisfy housing payments
throw away a life of savings

a single mother's investments
send her children off to college
a chance to be something better

now they're packing up possessions
in cardboard boxes whatever
staring blankly out the window

still moments in their perception

Chorus 1 (x1):


In a field of bluegrass
a green stop sign

pouring black rain
glowing gray skies
tiny white lies

a black wedding dress
a world of white rappers
and black presidents


Green doesn't mean go
Red doesn't mean stop

How we learn color
all depends on what we're taught
So we walk between the lines

stop and go with flashing lights
in a world full of color
all we see is black and white

Synesthesia

Bridge

Red, Blue
Left, Right
Us, Them

Black, White
Christian, Muslim
Wrong, Right

Push, Pull
Death, Life


Verse 2
I toss and turn in my sleep
during dreams of my childhood

remembering dark streets
and friends that the night took
blue ribbons and purple hearts
black panthers with white guilt
words written in white ink

a Jesus with black skin
exists where the dead live
sleeping walking on pain pills
white powder in dollar bills
tornados in nostrils

divisions cannot heal
until people can see clear
where cultural common sense
meets colors of one's skin
our nation cannot heal

until patterns in how we think
see it's us against us
not us against them
colorless lost lives
of colorful lifetimes

should not leave us colorblind
but show us where color lies

Chorus 2 (x1)

Bridge

Rich, Poor
Old, Young
Gay, Straight
Hate, Love
Hearing, Color
Seeing, Sound
Tasting, Words

Lost, Found