Bright Darkness

Bright Darkness

Naomi Pattison-Williams

Anything must be easier
than skirting the edge
of this abyss—so bright,
so blinding—with its endless
possibility of everything
and nothing.

Here we find ourselves
chastened by the wilderness
of the infinite, as we wait
for a voice that may speak
through suspended silence.

Sit down a while, notice
how the pebbles slowly form
deep grooves in your thighs
even as the laundry announces
its completion with a chirp—neon bright.
Your legs twitch, eager to retreat
back into the dull roar of sound
and time and blue ball-point pens—
away from this trembling edge,
this endless depth of sky.

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Naomi Pattison-Williams
Homemaker & Poet

Naomi is grateful to live at asiniskaw sipisis, Treaty 6 territory in rural Alberta, raising two little boys and writing about life as it happens. Having written a poetry chapbook called Fragments as part of her MA in Theology and the Arts, her poetry has also appeared or is forthcoming in Fathom Magazine, CRUX Journal and Sheloves Magazine.

Photography by Uyen Nguyen