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through a door
J. Scott Smith
through a door open to morning
there
shines a ray of gold
and from this portion
grows a brilliant hour
of day
creeping out of the corner
hidden more now
by the light
is my only night fear
companion
growing
smaller, back to it's place
in my eyes radiance lives
in my ears bells are ringing
singing
all creation evolves
around here changing
shaping my only world
through a door open
to morning
there
shines a ray of hope
from this thing
nature springs
a different, better way
When I was a kid I had this book entitled My Big Book & Scotty's Room. For obvious reasons I loved that book, even though I hate being called Scotty. I don't remember a whole lot about the book, but there is one thing that always stuck with me. In Scotty's room there was a ray of sunshine that came in through the window. Scotty loved that ray of sunshine.
I have always been fascinated by the way light works. When a sliver comes through a crack in the curtains, I notice the way it slices a hole in the floor. In my own room (That would be Scott's room!) I can tell you the approximate time of day by the light that comes through the window, even if the blinds are closed. I take note of the various shapes the light makes, sometimes even naming the more interesting ones.
Having light means having shadows. It's tough to have one and not the other. Just as the light grabbed my attenion, so did its shadows. I remember riding in the car, down a tree-lined road, and closing my eyes and watching the shadows of the trees on my eyelids. I still do that. I will also watch the tree shadows on my closed blinds.
Deceptive things, light and shadow. More than once I've tried to pick up or brush off a little speck of shadow, or a thread of light.
As a kid, I loved my book and I had my ray of sunlight. I was also terrified of the shadows in my room at night. I hated when the light faded, because my room was the original Transformer. Naturally, I couldn't have an Autobot. No, I had to get stuck with an evil Decepticon! So in the mornings I was happy to see the slice in the floor, because it meant my room was transforming back to normal.
All of which is what I had in mind as I penned yet another piece with a decidedly e. e. cummings-esque structure.
[jss, November 2011]
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