I danced with the darkness last week.

The days were cold and the nights

were filled with humid, empty streets.

The air was heavy, I could not

lift it. I was afraid of falling,

but the darkness and I, we danced,

and it was

a strange, smooth, foul melody.

I met the shadows and they whispered

stories. They crawled thick on the air

and stayed, even though I didn't want them to.

They asked if I knew about doom.

They reminded me of all the books

I haven't read and the moments when

my words weren't good enough to explain

what needed to be unwound.

They turned my life into a kaleidoscope

of darkness, a spiderweb of failure

and the words "not smart enough".

The shadows whispered to me

and my jealousy, and the darkness

held out it's hand to dance.

I danced with the darkness

and it taught me to confuse the

truth with lies.

Now spiderwebs lace my mind.

I danced with the darkness

and cursed it.

Desperate I chased a glint in

the night and when I found

it, only a piece of glass,

I clutched it still until my

hands were cracked with blood.

The shadows laughed

and caused me to doubt

that any light had reflected

on the broken shard at all.

Reminded me how possible it was for

me to simply be seeing

things because I needed to.

The darkness took my hand

gently, and asked me why I was

fearful of the night. It told me

the light I sought - that hope -

was untrue, a mystery, a story.

Swore to me that the fact I had

experienced the light was nothing more

than a dream. It was easy to believe,

in those broken streets with my bloodied

hands.

The shadows were reassuring and

kind, they led me gently and spoke

sweetly, away from the light.

And then I ran, fiercely and fearfully,

knowing that even if the light was only

a dream and a lie, it was one I was

not willing to give up on.

The darkness whirled around me

and the shadows gave chase.

The fear in my heart constricted my lungs

and I felt certain I could no longer breathe.

But I saw it again, a faint glow

against the darkness, and as I ran toward

it, it grew, until the world was bursting

with radiant light.

The darkness fled, the shadows shrieked and hid.

I walked, breathless, bloodied, and ruined, into the

healing light,