It happened in black and white

There's a lot of detail in the world.
A lot of colour filling in the gaps.
There are advertisements in every space.
There are words in every silence.

He was lucky. He had the filter.
When something happened,
When a quick response was needed,
It. Switched. On.

Then the world would be clear
The easy path would be here
And he would instantly know
The direction to go
To solve the question
To make issues lessen
To stop things going wrong
And turn the colour back on

And then life was full again, of the unnecessary things.
He could sit back and enjoy all the nuances.
And, it used to be every once in a while.
It used to be a luxury.

The issue with any problem,
With any temporary fix,
Is it's not to long until it becomes permanent.

And nothing, nothing, will do that more than a child.
And then he couldn't be wild.
And now every moment he's ready.
Now he always has to keep steady.
He never get's to enjoy.
And nuances with his boy.
He's always ready to save.
Superdad. Always the slave.

Then it's needed elsewhere
To help him to care
It's needed at work
And to stop him being a jerk
Needed for lack of sleep
Needed so he could keep
Himself from going off the kilter
He needed. His. Filter.