Contrast in Shade
Light is darkness,
The bringer of peace, of the pretence of closure.
In satisfying the senses, it distracts the mind,
And for a tiny thread of time, the memories stop their haunting.
Darkness is light,
The bringer of clarity, of true sight.
In cutting off the senses, it intensifies emotion,
And the barbed wire of the suppressed, the forgotten, is free to keep on tearing.
It is in the darkness that I remember you,
My senses are isolated but have no trouble recalling,
Each and every expression, your scent, the sound of your laughter,
All ring clear.
You are far gone, travelling down a different path,
But I can’t let go, can’t find the way.
I want nothing more than to forget,
But the darkness always makes me remember.
Now, when we speak, I hear contempt in your words,
Maybe it repels you, to think I still have a part of you in my heart,
Maybe you want that part back,
To be whole again, and completely devoid of my presence.
Take it.
Stop reminding me.
The past is immutable, but I want it buried
Beneath time’s tiny grains of sand.
Your memory won’t let me heal in the darkness,
But can’t it at least let me live in the light?