HOW THE DARK GETS OUT by Michael Lally

How does the dark get out?
Thelonious Monk said It’s
Always night or we wouldn’t
Need light. Saint John of The
Cross wrote The Dark Night
Of The Soul, which I always
Used to justify my research
Into darkness with the idea
That the deeper I got into it
The higher I would climb to
The light when I came out
Of it, if I came out of it. Now
I know how big that if was
And how lucky I am to have
Found the light before it was
Too late, the light of love,
The unconditional kind that
We usually only find in kids
And dogs and saints. What a
Quaint concept the latter is,
And yet I bet you’ve known
A few. I have too, and have
Aspired to be my own kind
Of one. Only what’s done is
Done and can’t be taken back.
Though it can be taken with,
as a reminder of all I have to
Make up for. But the easiest
Way is just to open that door
And walk through it to the
Light even when, like Monk
Says, it’s always night.

—© 2013 Michael Lally

Comments

[jane Delynn]

What do you mean by unconditional love ( not from dogs or kids or saints)?

[Elaine Equi]

Thanks for this beautiful poem, Michael! I love the shape too. It reminds me of both a ladder and a well.

[Terence Winch]

Nice one!

[delaune]

True and powerful and so deeply consoling. the human condition perfectly rendered yet again by Maestro Lally. The day is better having read this.

[Robert Berner]

There's some characteristic Lally wit and imagery here, but you really can't take "it"--or anything--with you. And even when you walk through that door to the light, it's maybe just as likely you'll walk into that somewhere where it's always 3 AM.
Still,
Nice Chops, Lal,

Bob B.

[maryann siebert-poris]

Yes, the day is better now. To recognize the love, like Grace.

[Peter]

Good one, Michael. Think I'll take the advice, right now…comes at a good time, glad I saw this.

[Kevin]

"..Now
I know how big that if was"

That line hit me so hard, as hard as anything I've read in a year.

[Suzanne Burgess Greco]

love the rhythm of the writing

[lally]

thanks all

[David Salner]

Mike, glad your still at work. Wouldn't worry about that ol' light. Dave

[Toby Thompson]

Lally plays the light and the dark keys here, riffing sweetly like Monk while blowing hard like Coltrane. No one hits the hip notes better than Lally.

[lally]

oh, and Jane, it means no conditions on it, and Bob, the immediate meaning was taking it with you (me) into the present moment, next moment and beyond, but I would say from my death-facing experiences that it can be taken with into wherever that leads as well...but too much explication (which I just did) probably takes away from the mystery of Monk being correct on al levels...

[Magdalen P.]

Love how the ending calls back to the start, like you could read it in a circle, forever.