Seeking the light which illumines
The stories waiting for us to tell
I visit with them
Let the shadows
Fall under my light
Until they become known to me
Appreciate them for their wisdom
Thank them for their insight
Forgive them for their fears and distractions
Illumined, I see their purpose
Just as I cannot know the light
Without darkness
So too I cannot know the darkness
Without light
I thought I knew the darkness well
When I was caught in it
As it touched me
As it coursed through me
I believed the darkness was me
Standing in the light
I sense the true nature of my being
Radiating this warm glow
I have not emerged from the darkness
I have shed it
Like a cloak
Beneath which the light
Has always burned
Will always burn
Has always kept the darkness
In its dark
I am in this world
And I am not
I have this body
And I do not
I am present
I am nowhere
I am here
But not
I am present
I am a ghost
This is trauma
This is dissociation
The grey between
The black and white
I lose my way
To gloom within
Then light of day
Too dim by far
The dimmest star
The light within
So then seek I
A beacon bright
To light the way
A light without
Here I stand
On this thin edge
Of the cusp
Between darkness and the light
Witness to
An extraordinary beauty
I remind myself
The darkness is always present
Even in the brightest light
Its balance is available
I remind myself
The light is not too bright
Rather my eyes remain
Accustomed to the darkness
On a grey day
I learn gratitude
For lessons of darkness
Which made of me a man
Who finds light
In the littlest things