Mr Black and Mr White (and Mr Grey)

Mr Black is as black as the night,

Mr White's as white as flour;

and Mr Grey? Well, he's just grey,

though he's not at all dour.

Now Mr Black thinks this,

and Mr White thinks that,

but Mr Grey sees neither

because he sees between the stacks.

To Mr Black all's bleakly black;

to Mr White all's deathly blank,

and each of them will swear down that

Mr Grey has broken rank:

'How can you not see?' they say.

'And what, oh what must you think?

To see the world in tones so grey -

it might as well be pink!'

'No, not pink,' he says,

'though rosy it often appears.

It's fine when you don't pledge

yourself, but hedge - and never fear.

One day Mr Black

struck Mr White so blunt

that Mr White attacked

with knife in hand: 'you dirty, silly c**t!'

And Mr Black returned

with a blow to Mr White's skull.

Now each cannot unlearn

what brought each one to null.

So Mr Grey stands there,

his shoulders raised in confusion.

He leaves the scene in fear

into the panicked night,

the chief suspect in this murderous collusion

between Mr Black and Mr White.