by Tenebris

Created on: June 30, 2008

Ashlight

oh gods why why
the gray, gray unlight pale shadow
clouds of exhaust drifting past
melding with the monochrome fog
small whorls of white
and a thin water-ghost of a sun

the brown sand salt turns white
on black boots and black coats
and red on cars
hissing beneath the skidding tires
over an unseen line
but it's too gray to argue
just exchange insurance cards
and tow trucks

is it noon yet?
has the light changed
since the dim of that ancient day
before the sun and the moon
when the timeless stars watched the still earth
from their crystalline spheres?

last week
or the week before there was sun
a brilliant shattering globe
hung in the pale cloudless sky
the skyscrapers of clouded glass blazed scarlet
suspended in a sea of azure
and the river running gray
at their feet

a brief glance
thin faceless forms huddle over the bridge
and pass on

Just one: a mother alone
with her arms filled with groceries
and her eyes bent to the ground
walking carefully on the uneven ice
her black coat sweeps along
the snow and the salt
sleet stinging her red face
and she sets down the bags
in the uncertain lee of the bus shelter
tilts back her head and
laughs
the tears freezing in her eyes
while the fog echoes
"Who laughs? who laughs?"

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