by L.M. Cole
After Arianna Monet
Light-Dark—
separated by the idea of sameness.
Light. Visual.
The natural agent that makes things
visible.
Dark. Visual.
The absence of light.
Meaning:
Pain is a darkness refusing to step into the light.
Light is a tool of the profoundly visible.
Additionally:
Light. Visual.
Illuminated.
Lit.Bright.Embellished.
Dark. Visual.
Not reflecting much light.
Inky.Obscured.Masked.
Which means:
The nature of pain is invisible.
That which is not visible must be false.faked.invalid.
Or
Light. Color.
Pale.
I strain for neutral and am considered soft.
which
Here means weak. Which—
Here means feeble. Which—
Here means inadequate, but in hushed tones, subtle.
Dark. Color.
When I am painted in shadow—
draped in the disaster
of crumbling
bone-deep
ache
And someone says
try getting some sun.
And maybe light can chase
away a darkness that isn’t
buried
in marrow.
But
Light. Thing.
An opening that lets light in.
When I say pain and you don’t ask
about the number on a chart,
the number on the scale,
the number of proofs.evidence.validation.
And
Dark. Thought.
The way I wrap my mouth around
a reason and they wave their hands
and declare defeatist
as though I am not being defeated.
And
Light. Verb.
To ignite.
To start to burn.
But
If pain does not extinguish a spark
it will still be stifled by the way
the visible see through
crip-tic experience
like squinting through smoke.
Maybe
I am as much spark as pain.
I am as much window as curtain.
I am the light-dark
start of an inferno waiting to breathe
And when I exhale—
L.M. Cole is a poet and artist residing in North Carolina. She is the co-editor of Bulb Culture Collective and a poetry reader for Moss Puppy Magazine. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming with The Pinch Journal, The McNeese Review, Stanchion, Five South, and others. For more information visit https://linktr.ee/lmcole
Emerge Literary Journal 