It’s too dark to see my words
but not too dark to see
how the light falls on the page,
the glow along the center line
where it slopes in, and the orange cast
of the nightlight catching the curve

It was too late to find a poem that night,
shadow shapes showing where the words were
but not enough of thought
to pull it through.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 31, 2020