Night Light

by Fiona McPhillips

 

Just as the veil of day begins to slip

and street lights flicker on to break its fall,

I see you in the shadows that are cast

like stains around the flat we used to share.

 

You reappear in unexpected ways,

the smell of antiseptic or my teeth

marks in a piece of fruit, the punctured flesh

as soft and broken as a busted lip.

 

I count the ways in which you left your mark,

the scabs and scars like braille upon my skin,

reminders of the battles that were lost

before I got a taste of victory.

 

So while I wait for sunrise to dismiss

the cold nocturnal shades of black and blue,

I huddle in the artificial light 

and shine it on the darker side of me.

 

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