This Long Night - Lisa Shulman

[Lawrence Robinson]

This Long Night 
 
The bad do not win—not finally.
-Alberto Ríos
 
You awaken in darkness,
damp chill shivers your bones,
makes you curl tighter
beneath the threadbare blanket
you believed could keep you warm.
 
Know in your flickering heart it cannot;
know it is time to throw it off,
to step barefoot onto cold floorboards
and fling open the window 
to this long night.
 
It is dark, yes, but see—
there are stars pricking the black sky,
a pale smile of moon 
peering out behind the clouds.
 
You gather up what small magic you can—
bright stones, dried petals, the memory
of trees and rivers,
blow a tiny flame to flickering
and step outside.
 
There is faint light on the horizon,
and to your left and your right
the star-like sparks brought by the others
all moving with you
toward dawn.

	- Lisa Shulman
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