more than a handshake with darkness

darkness invites
bringing out the self that matters
(free of all the chicanery brought on by daylight)
inside the lit candle light
(painting only part of the face, allowing a subtle beauty
illustrated like standing neath’ the full moon)
flickering &
with a handshake of darkness
unlike a politician’s fakery
comes the shadows behind the faces &
with a hug from the quiet calm of darkness
comes the likening of death for which we are all
eventually bound---
lured into the depths
the first notion is to fear
the second is to panic
the third is to try &
change the situation
so as to find that comfortable
soft white
that the reading light brings or
the annoying glare of the office
fluorescents
keeping your eyes open
even if you are tired & sick of being the
grinding tool,
yes, the darkness washes all that away---
religions,
which people run to when they can’t accept their own
reality, or when they want to try & make their lives fulfilling
by taking part in even larger lies
than the ones that they tell themselves incessantly
(to convince themselves that there is a need to be religious),
frown on the darkness,
for it is after all where all their imaginary demons reside &
it is the final threat
the one that will fade away like all the rest
leaving us unafraid & hence more compassionate toward one another
when we all are fine with darkness
when death no longer holds the meaning that it currently seems to
when we kiss & tell our exploits
in the darkness
without feeling one bit of guilt,
when everyone no longer struggles for a
“light at the end of the tunnel”---

the tunnel has nothing to hide.