Dark and LIght

Dark and Light

I’ll not whine,
I’ll not moan;
this darkness that inhabits our lives
is like the shadow in a Vermeer painting,
the counterpoint that makes his light
(and who paints light better than Vermeer?)
so achingly beautiful
as it touches a face,
describes a fabric,
rebounds off a copper jug.
It’s these two in concert, you see,
dark and sunlight in perfect balance,
contrasting, complementing,
creating in their interaction
the timeless scene that lives
in our minds forever.

If I were to flick a switch
(anachronism I know)
to flood the room with electric light,
so all is bathed in glowing uniformity,
how would the highlights,
those delicious moments of inspiration,
stand out and caress emotion?
Would it not be an unrelieved assault,
an eye-straining sheet of brightness
without rest or subtlety,
an overdose to the sense of sight?

Our lives are the same;
without the darkness,
light is merely everyday,
and sameness unrelenting.


Line Count: 31
Free Verse
For The Daily Poem, July 16 2020
Prompt: “But in the end it’s only a passing thing, this shadow; even darkness must pass.” - Samwise Gamgee