Light and Shadow

The corner of my room is
Cluttered with the loose ends of my life
Boxes of dry goods that were given to me
I’ve had that Shake-n-Bake for about two years now.
Piles of cd’s
A used candle
Baking powder that I never bake with anymore
A lonely guitar that I don’t know how to talk to
An inspirational poem that I no longer believe in
A tall fern that watches me come and go
Watches my ups and downs with that same expression
Watches me toss and turn at night and hopes
In the corners of its chlorophyl brain
Hopes that I remember to water it now and then.

I notice now the light
Streaming in through the frosted window
It shines on the cheap finish of the guitar
Lights up the 70’s mauve of the carpet
The fern casts interesting shadows on the wall
Light and shadow
Colors absorbed and never seen
The eye sees nothing else, really
Light and shadow
The rest is me.