I was trying to weigh darkness – Martha Silano

Ginevra Kirkland

I was trying to weigh darkness how much does darkness weigh
why is my daughter afraid of the dark why was I in my 30s
and 40s afraid of the dark

half of every day in darkness most of the cosmos most
of a forest most of the ocean the corridors
that lead to more corridors

the lover and the corpse what isn’t green or yellow or red
what isn’t a rainbow a cloud or the moon
when it’s reflecting sunlight

what isn’t the blue blue above is ominous unknown
our eyes unable our pupils the ink from squid
the eggs from a sturgeon Australia’s rarest

opals the bear and the panther the ink in the pen on the page
a phone when it’s not in use the little cocktail dress
the evening gown the tuxedo

a way to be fancy a way to be goth crows and ravens
a window where no one’s home charred trees
brushfire’s aftermath