Light

What a shock! 

the neighborhood

seemed dark lately

 . . . really dark

what with all the violence,

arguing, injustice, disorder,

it’s not that

nothing good ever happened

it’s just that the dark

seemed to overshadow

the light

but sometimes I wonder

is the dark necessary?

not that violence, arguing, injustice, and disorder

are good

but do they make up the canvass that

peace, unity, justice, and order

must be painted upon?

you see, I can’t know the first things

except by faith

when I was born, my first sound was a cry

crying to enter this grey world

leaving the dark comfort of the womb

close to my mother’s heart

you see, dark is not always bad

one of the loneliest places on earth

is the never ending fluorescent universe

of a big box store

never changing,

never dimming,

24/7

never dark

always light,

but filled with a superficial light

a light that pales and blinds

a light that doesn’t hold a candle

to the Real Light

And that Light

Shines in the darkness and

the darkness couldn’t put it out

not now, not ever

not a washed out fluorescent light

but a warm, piercing, glow

from the inside out

maybe that Light

shines brighter in the dark?

I want that kind of light

to shine in me,

O Christ! 

come once again and shine!