Darkness is the murk
where a monster lurks
and the gulp of sky
in the depths of night
when no stars glisten
and no moon listens
to the hoot of an owl
or a wild wolf’s howl.
Darkness is the smother
beneath the covers
when you get it in your head
something’s under the bed
or in the wardrobe, waiting at night
for the dreaded click of the bedroom light.
Kim M. Russell, 31st January 2019
My response to Poets United Midweek Motif: Darkness is…
This week Sumana is in the host’s chair with darkness. She asks if it is intrinsically bad or something that lies in between good and evil; what colour it is; whether it’s a part of life, a necessity; what it is, when it comes and where it lives.
She has given us inspiration with quotations from Yousuf Karsh and Margaret Atwood, as well as poems from Federico Garcia Lorca, Lucille Clifton, Emily Dickinson and Robert William Service.
writing in north norfolk 
I enjoyed that and remember it well the dread of the dark with all it’s sounds I love the gulp of sky
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Thank you, Marja!
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I’m more familiar with the experience in the second stanza than in the first, but I love the parallel and the images you give me. I smiled to learn that others imagined the monster under the bed, as I did.
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🙂
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Aw…This one’s a delightful darkness poem, Kim. A lovely read 🙂
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Thanks so much, Sumana. 😊
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I like the rhythm of your poem, Kim. It a beautiful darkness, a child can play in and discover there are no monsters just absence of light. Lovely!
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Thank you, Khaya!
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I love this and can relate to the second stanza 🙂 my sister during our childhood used to be afraid of the dark so much so that she wouldn’t sleep unless I held her hand and left the door open. Gorgeous writing as always, Kim! ❤️
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Thank you, Sanaa, I’m delighted you like it. I’m a bit behind with everything at the moment as we’ve had some freezing foggy weather, I’ve been out all day, and have a hospital appointment tomorrow. I hope to catch up by the weekend. 😊
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You, my lady, are the best at poems that read like nursery rhymes created to leave every hair standing on end. I love them. Not just because I’ve totally felt those words, but also because I am convinced that I’ve made the face on the painting, too.
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Do you mean a face something like this, Magaly? 😱
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Just like that! LOL!
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“Dark is the murk”…and the “smother” – very well done.
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Thank you, V.J.
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So welcome.
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Ha ha..it does get darker once the fears creep in!
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