Our Love Exists in Shadows

By David Hanlon

They are like the sun—
all-seeing, blazing
down on us
from unreachable heights.

We can’t look directly
at them, for, as tempers
flare, they will incinerate

our eyes, cast scalding
hot rays and finish off
our faces.

And where can we go?
Only the shadows
can offer us a home,
where we can be
comfortable,
affectionate;
where the holding of hands,
the caressing of fingers,
won’t go up in flames,
before,
simmering with anger
on the tip of your tongue
you can say,
with great conviction,
or try to—
I hope that made you feel good.

Our love exists in the shadows—
and if it must, I know
we’ll let love flourish
within these shaded boundaries:
create our own
light-source.

Now, when the sun people look down
at their shadows, on a bright
yet humid afternoon,
and watch how we dance
with unbridled joy,
how we animate
a perennial warmth,
they’ll suddenly feel,
even if for a short while,
a burning
loneliness.

And we,
we are light-keepers,
light-bearers,
predisposed
to love
in dark places.

David Hanlon is from Cardiff, Wales, and lives in Bristol, England. He has a BA in Film Studies and is training part-time as a counselor/psychotherapist. He has been writing poetry over the last two years, drawing mostly on his life experiences. You can find his work online at Ink, Sweat & Tears, Fourth & Sycamore, Eunoia Review, Amaryllis, Scarlet Leaf Review, One Sentence Poems, Anti-Heroin Chic, and Leaves of Ink, and it is forthcoming in Déraciné Magazine. You can follow David on Twitter @DavidHanlon13.

Photo credit: NASA.