Enlightenment
In the deep darkness
this little light
casts shadows bigger
than the possibility of death.
Sometimes the gloom
is best left undisturbed.
Illumination only increases
the magnitude of nightmares.
This is why we lie to children.
We say you can be anything
you want to be. But we know
the actual possibilities
are so much less than infinite.
In the dark before dawn
the little ones build delicious
desperate dreams, extravagant
gossamer schemes held together
by hope and whole milk.
There is always room
for beautiful delusions
when you cannot see
how fast the walls
are closing in.
We break so easily
in love and darkness.
You spend 10 years
trying to kill yourself
only to realize in the end
that what you really want
is to live.
The little light winks on
somewhere in the deep
and by its glow you finally see
just how far you have to go.
12.07 | unpublished