Light and Shadow
I saw the sun rise
from the Atlantic
while walking on
a beach
dark with crabs.
I saw the sun set
into the Pacific
from a park bench
along a coastal highway
while a disheveled man
shared the view
and an uneaten piece
of my sandwich.
In between and years after
I experienced both the light
and the darkness,’
and waited, at times,
for one or the other.
While we love the light,
there is part of us
that needs the night,
longs for it,
the peace it brings,
and the protection
from unwanted eyes.
Do not ask me to choose
between one or another,
for am not pure light or dark,
a mixture, swirling,
with all that is,
with no time or interest
to change what I am.