Ode To Lamps And Light Poem by michael pacholski

Dear light I thank you
fluorescent provider for me and mine
Without you I could not walk
away from the hearts of others
without stumbling on stray miniature dolls or cars or dice
Without you dear light
I would lose the straight way down the narrow hall
past the bathroom and out of love's door
and might instead
wander into kitchens
seeing headlines on breakfast tables.
I might become absorbed in causes and commitments
or be taken in by the price of ripe glistening apples
or become engaged
by the sounds she makes in the basement
with her dozen guitars
and the strands of words
she spirals and twists
in the seas of her dynamo mind.

Without this light surely I would be lost
and stray like a stunted pup all over the map of life
a shameful unfocused husk
happy with a little light to ramble on
over thickets and brambles and painful thorns
skipping over sweetly grasping shadows
a bright journey with nothing to stumble over
nothing to fall or fight for
and nowhere to go