The Dance of Gray

I had class today and there were presentations. It was Julia's turn. Her clothes are seldom drab and today, she could've made the apple blossoms in the courtyard envious.

A friend once asked me, "Why don't you wear something besides that gray? Won't young women be more attracted to the religious life if they could express themselves more?"

As Julia spoke, the answer came.

Pink shirt, black skirt
flowered flats
Auburn curls, rosy cheeks
Colors are dancing.
It is spring.

Would I trade it in?
This gray habit
with its sameness of everyday
The rains come
the sun shine
the grayness greets them all.

Does it mourn
because it cannot complement
the moods of nature
the turn of the heart
or the fancies of a woman?

What can exhaust the colors
of nature's palette
the nuances of the soul
the complexity of the feminine?

Black is the absence
of color
White is the union
of colors
Gray is white and black.

The breeze is unfurling
the tender green leaves
The moonlight is whispering
sweetness to the yellow daffodils
Gray is dancing
amongst them all
and I smile
because it dances in the fabric of my habit.

ps. Color theory http://www.colormatters.com/vis_bk_white.html
ps2. The uniform of a religious sister is called a habit.
ps3. For those of you who hasn't met me before, our sisters, the Sisters of Mary Queen, wear a gray habit.