Black and White

Little girls in classrooms learn
Don't ask questions, wait your turn
Manners, numbers, wrong from right
Life is always black or white.

They dressed you up in silk and ribbons,
Told you life was yours to make
Then clipped your wings and left you helpless
Told you which roads you should take.
Do what they say, don't you fight
They know what's best, it's black and white.

Pieces on a glossy board, each with their own path to choose
But not for you, you're just a pawn
And either way you're bound to loose.
Just go straight, no left or right
In this game of black and white.

Choose a husband (if we like him)
Buy a house (if we approve)
Swathe yourself in lace and chiffon
Seal your fate with that "I do."
If you don't love him that's alright
You look so good in black and white.

Crisp white linen, gleaming floors
Dirty dishes, all are yours
To fill your hours and soothe the sting
Of hopes and dreams and girlish things.
For when you lie with him at night
You know he dreams in black and white.

Time fades by and so does pain.
Your eyes grow dim as hair turns grey.
Your husband dies (what was his name?)
The children all have moved away.
All alone, you wish the night
Would yield just once and turn to light.

But as you sit you start to wander
Back to sky and sunshine days
To a boy with hair like fire,
Touch that set your heart ablaze.
And though you strain you can't remember
Why you let yourself be bound
To a man with eyes like cinders
And let your dreams of color drown.

But don't you see? They raised you right.
This world is built on black and white.