A Collection of Poems

The Absence of Darkness

What is light?

Some say it is purity

others call it white

still others say it is a flurry

of particles and atoms

and scientific strains

of energy

So what is it, really?

is it that brightness that

tickles your skin on a summer day

or the near-blindness you experience

when your mother flicks the switch

in the middle of the night

just to make sure you're

still safe, in bed

even though you'd

never sneak out anyway?

Is light that strange emotion you

get when that boy in line at the bookstore

smiles at you and

compliments your

Star Wars shirt, surprised that

it's actually vintage

and you're so proud of it because

you know that you found it

upstairs in the attic with all of

your dad's old things from high school

but that boy is still smiling at you,

and you realize that you

didn't actually acknowledge

the poor kid and

your cheeks flush and you grin

hoping that he doesn't mind

that you won't actually say anything to him because

oh dear, it's been far too long

since a boy has noticed you?

But could light actually be

the first time a newborn baby stretches 

her cheeks to form a smile

the first wrinkle of the skin that

will determine how

that smile looks when

she's 95 and she's seen all her

kids and grandkids and even a few

great grandkids grow up and

go to college and get married and have

babies of their own

but she's smiling and her face

is full of light

So light is really just

the fullness of life.