How does the dark get out?
Thelonious Monk said It’s
Always night or we wouldn’t
Need light. Saint John of The
Cross wrote The Dark Night
Of The Soul, which I always
Used to justify my research
Into darkness with the idea
That the deeper I got into it
The higher I would climb to
The light when I came out
Of it, if I came out of it. Now
I know how big that if was
And how lucky I am to have
Found the light before it was
Too late, the light of love,
The unconditional kind that
We usually only find in kids
And dogs and saints. What a
Quaint concept the latter is,
And yet I bet you’ve known
A few. I have too, and have
Aspired to be my own kind
Of one. Only what’s done is
Done and can’t be taken back.
Though it can be taken with,
as a reminder of all I have to
Make up for. But the easiest
Way is just to open that door
And walk through it to the
Light even when, like Monk
Says, it’s always night.
—© 2013 Michael Lally