Start Off Dark

You start off dark

And you work on it.

You build it up

To the light

 

 

But my dark

Goes too deep

And as each stroke

Fails to leave

An impression

I find myself

Slipping.

 

 

I leave before the sun

Is up, above the horizon.

I lose myself,

Hidden in the camouflaging

Shadows of early dawn.

I slip under the trees

The branches keep me

Safe from the penetrating light.

 

 

He told me to start off dark

And work my way up

To the light

But he didn’t know.

The dark was inside me

In my veins and organs.

In the fine web of capillaries.

My muscles, down to my every cell.

The cavities in my teeth.

 

I take a deep breath

Of bright fresh air

And feel the shadow

In me shudder.

 

As the sun rises

I slip back inside.

Under the covers

I watch the shadows

On the ceiling

Warp with each hour.

 

 

You start off dark

And you work on it.

Slowly.