though my faith in love
commitment to others
occasionally shaken
life's battles
have taught this old soldier
to heal fast
continually renew the pledge
to fight the good fight
dance without shame
as if no one and yet
everyone is watching
between darkness and light

for too much light
can blind one's vision
lull them into becoming
too good to be true
how then can they advise…lead?
with a soul that never bleeds
when so many others suffer around them

too much darkness
and cynicism sets in
others repelled
by what one says and does
till some their own souls blackened
sends them into oblivion
and so just as twilight must lead to night
it needn’t come without enlightenment
just as darkness gives way to dawn
so too it arrives with its own revelations

what we learn and do then
is cleanse and strengthen ourselves
of the other's adversities
and truly dance ahead
in darkness and light


© 2006

710 hits as of November 2023

03/04/2020

Author's Note: I have a document called Ideas, in which I type anything that strikes me that certain way. It may only be a couple of lines or a stanza. Some sit like that for months or even years, until I decide to go in and do a clean-up. A few are deleted while others developed further, but still not finished, while others such as the poem above, with a bit of revision, are essentially complete. In Darkness and Light was inspired by discussions I had had with fellow poet, Maureen Glaude, on the subject of spiritualism.

Posted on 03/04/2020
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