When it’s dark,
we tell ourselves
any story we can
about the return
of the light. Say
there’s a mother
grieving her daughter
who’s lost
to an underground king.
Say there’s a sister
who hides in a cave
fearing her brother
the god of storms.
Say that through lures
or begging, the girls
are returned, they
bring light
in their wake.
Use history. Say
the light’s always
come back before.
Use science. Say
it has something
to do with the tilt
and the turn and the rate.
Get fierce. Say you’ve seen
enough of hate.
Get desperate. Say
it takes only a crack.
Start chanting. Start
dancing. Bake cakes
filled with cream.
Give your blood. Give
money. Give any offering.
Or taste the darkness.
Begin to know it as itself,
not as the lack of light.
Let it touch you everywhere.
Let it touch your everywhere else.
Feel how infinite it is.
Say nothing. Get quieter.
Be very curious.
Posts Tagged ‘darkness’
Perhaps Easier to Say When It’s Light
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged allowing, darkness, light, poem, poetry, story on April 29, 2013 | 1 Comment »
Distracted by the Universe
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged apology, darkness, fire, poem on February 16, 2013 | 5 Comments »
Let’s Walk Through It Together Haiku
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged darkness, door, haiku, hope, poem on December 15, 2012 | 2 Comments »
between the night
and the fear, a door appears
a dark bird sings, sings
Inquiry
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged darkness, inquiry, light, poem, poetry, shadow, surrender on October 17, 2012 | 2 Comments »
I have been living
closer to darkness
than I thought.
See how my shadow
is longer than the woman
who makes it. It moves
with me at the same pace,
every step.
I have tried to push back
the darkness. I have tried
to hold only light.
As if it were a war.
As if to be in darkness
were bad. And who is it
that is afraid of the dark?
And what would happen
if I let it swallow me whole?
I walk out into the night.
I look up. The light
on the corner gets in the way.
It is a long time
before I see the stars.
All Around Us
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged darkness, Denver, night, poem, poetry, separation, unity on July 30, 2012 | 3 Comments »
The hotel’s sixth floor balcony
is high enough to see the Denver lights
and low enough to look up at the Double Tree sign,
which outshines the exile moon.
The air wears the thickness of city rain
recently fallen with nowhere to seep.
What loneliness cannot be met by the night?
Does dark travel as fast as the speed of light,
or is it the given, the track, the slate?
On Quebec Street, the buses are empty.
They stop at the corner and wait, then go on.
And the night, it somehow holds us all
on our separate stoops, in our separate doors,
on our separate lawns with our separate lives,
hold us all, doesn’t even ask our names.
Six Overflowings
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged darkness, haiku, not knowing, overflowing, poem on July 8, 2012 | 5 Comments »
every moment flees its own overflowing
—Karen Chamberlain, Ephedra
no birds wheel
in the air tonight—
wings in my song
*
swallowing darkness
in great gulps
a few stars catch in my teeth
*
I really thought
I knew something
about not knowing
*
gathering ephedra
my hands
are not my own hands
*
naked
I wear
a red dress
*
the night sky offered
to loan me its black skirt
hope it’s not too small
How Would We Know
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bug, darkness, infinity, insect, light, not knowing, poem on June 26, 2012 | 2 Comments »
We remark those bugs
that hurl themselves
toward the light
and perhaps, because
we too are focused there,
we miss all those insects
that rocket themselves
deeper and deeper
quiet, as fast as they can
into the infinite dark.
Featherless but Flying Haiku
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged contentment, darkness, haiku, joy, poem, poetry, singing on March 17, 2012 | 3 Comments »
I guess I’d make
a crummy bird … here I am
singing in the darkness.
Seeing It for Perhaps the First Time
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 84, darkness, freedom, independence, light, poems, poetry, radiance on March 3, 2012 | 4 Comments »
It was dim
then
starless
who would guess
this was a gift
now whatever path
there is
is lit
by my own
light
And Beneath That …
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 84, crack, darkness, light, poems, poetry, transformation on February 19, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Both the light and the shadow are at home in the heart.
–Jan Garrett & JD Martin, “Love Wins”
The shell
cracks
the fracture
gaps
and light
streams in
to reveal
another shell
not yet
begun
to
crack
