Walk a mile

I wanted to tell you...

They were just words on a screen, but
I wanted to tell you how
they brightened my day.

I huddled close to the screen,
using its glow to ward off
spectres of the night as if
I were huddled around a campfire
in the jungle, but in this case
the wild animals I see lurking
in the shadows, eyes illuminated
by the reflective glow,
are inside my head.
And my heart.

I wanted to tell you how your words
pushed back the darkness, just a little,
and gave me some room to breathe.

I wanted to tell you how your words
gave me the courage to peer into the corners
and acknowledge that the dust bunnies had not
mutated into figments of my imagination.

I wanted to tell you how your words
cast the faintest rosy tint across my world,
reimagining the familiar.

Then it dawned on me
that we'd talked all night
and it was morning.


Free verse. Written 25 April 2016.