Debbie Wiess is a Boston-based writer, who writes in French and English. She has created a wide variety of projects for stage and screen, poetry and short stories, in both languages. Her work has been presented throughout the US and abroad, in traditional theaters and alternative venues (including in a moving trolley during the Somerville Open Studios several years ago), as well as on cable, radio and the internet. Many of her poems have been published. She is a proud member of the Bagel Bards and has had work included in its Anthology since joining the group in 2012.

COLOR BLIND
(July 2000)

Society is in flux
It is ever evolving
That, one can clearly see
Over Time terms change
in meaning and usage

Once it was good to say
one was color blind
That is, regarding race
Now we learn
what we should say is
that we are antiracist
Not being racist
no longer sufficing

So when I say I am color blind
I am looked at askance
with undisguised scorn
I do not mean to insult anyone,
overlook the obvious,
not see a person for who they are
But I am color blind
Truly
I cannot see colors
None at all
Most everything is a shade of gray
For me Life is a multitude of gray
and gradations of gray
The only thing I can see clearly
is what is Black and White

— Debbie Wiess

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