darkness

“In the Absence of Light”
by

“In the Absence of Light”

There’s an absence of light
Behind my eyes,
An absence of words
In my fingers,
And on my tongue
Sings voices I have not heard
In many years.
There’s an absence of warmth
From my arms,
Where a baby would sit;
An absence of solemnity,
The kind that was sad
But also safe.
There’s an absence of fear
Yet an absence of strength
In my legs, enough
To stand on sand
As the chilling ocean waves
Sweep me out from under.
An absence of sincerity
Haunts my movements
And my intentions,
An absence of desire
For camaraderie,
Fellowship, constraint.
An absence of openness.
There’s an absence of light
Because I walk in the dark.
But in the absence of light,
I still walk.

Catherine Joy

by

A Poem A Day #510

When the Lights Faded In

What did I see when the lights faded in?
I saw me, exposed.
Everyone’s true colors, glaring straight at me.
Things as they should be,
And almost everything as it should not.
I saw all the stories of the past
Drift by like dust;
They hovered by the lights,
As if they were afraid to be seen in the dark.
On the walls
Shadows cowered back,
Clinging to the corners,
Trying to hide their shapes.
But I saw them, I saw it all.
When the lights faded in,
Sweet and gently and not too painful,
I saw light and darkness
And colors, many, many colors.
They sang to me, said hello.
And before the light faded away
I took stock of it all,
And I remembered it all,
And nothing was in darkness again.

By Catherine Joy

by

A Poem A Day #311

The Blinds were Closed

One day I sat in my room
Deep in thought;
I was feeling wretched that day;
my mind was all in a knot.
Then, I happen to glance and notice
Something that made me a little discomposed.
The window above my desk was shut,
And the blinds were closed.
I realized there was no light,
No glimpse of the outside, the trees,
No sight of nature, of singing birds
And leaves bending in the breeze.
I felt a loss of freedom
Because I could not see the sky.
I could not hear any sound
Besides my solemn sigh.
And that is nothing to bask in.
I was in a room of darkness.
It was a place of cold reality
And morbid starkness.
I couldn’t bear it, I needed light.
I needed a solid connection.
Thus, when I reached to pull the string,
I was headed in the right direction.

By Catherine Joy