print previewback PATTY PAINE
What Light Does
Today, I did nothing.
Light went on as usual,
throwing leaves against the white wall,
as if no one were watching, as if
there’s no meaning in the trembling
of the leaves. Later, light moves
the leaves onto the tile floor,
and once I might have thought them
dancing, or that the shadow
of a thing is more beautiful
than the thing itself, but it’s not,
it’s just ordinary light, going about
its ordinary business. Now, evening is here,
and I’ve made it through another day
of shadows. This is not metaphor, or poetry,
it’s how the unbearable is
a blade that gleams and remains
visible, long after light has gone. 
What Light Does
What You Sow