Darkness?

Dark is Relative


Sitting in the grey
listening to cicadas and tree frogs and crickets
competing desperately to be heard above the crowd,
feeling the wind blow moist kisses on my face and arms
caressing me with cool refreshment and warm desire,
watching the fire flies wink about trying to find mates
trying to mate with my solar lamps,
sensing the cool stare of a quarter-plus moon
ignoring me to look over his shoulder toward the eastern horizon,
smelling the faint perfume of mimosa, roses, crepe myrtle
settling about me with the evening dew,
tasting the goodness of a chai tea with honey and vanilla
mixing with a slight hint of the city’s effort to control the mosquito population,
knowing relative freedom from fear and anxiety
sitting in the grey, almost dark, of a summer midnight,
Lifting my face to the sky, I reach out my arms
breathing in life and strength for tomorrow.
Written by DW July 2007

The Picture is a pastel born of a pre-dawn vigil on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in 2004. 12" by 18", it uses the concepts of luminoscity. I tried to photograph it, but couldn't, so I drew it instead. The title is simply "Tuesday Morning".